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Dave

British Airways announces resumption of flights to mainland China

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After a two-year absence, British Airways has announced it will resume flights between the UK and mainland China. Tickets have gone on sale for flights to Shanghai from 23 April and Beijing from 3 June.

Noella Ferns: We can’t wait to welcome our customers back to Shanghai and Beijing

British Airways first flew to China in 1980 and continued to do so until the pandemic.

The airline has been working to reintroduce these important routes to enable passengers to resume trips to and beyond these crucial destinations.

  • From 23 April, flights will operate daily between London Heathrow and Shanghai Pudong International Airport – flight numbers BA168 and BA169.
  • From 3 June, flights will operate four times per week between London Heathrow and the new Beijing Daxing Airport – flight numbers BA88 and BA89.

Noella Ferns, British Airways’ Head of Sales, Asia Pacific, said:

We can’t wait to welcome our customers back on board our flights from Shanghai and Beijing. We know they’ve been looking forward to reuniting with family and friends, coming to study in the UK and resuming business between China and the UK.

We have an incredibly rich history of flying to mainland China, having connected the two countries for more than 40 years. We look forward to resuming these routes again.

In a statement, the airline said “safety has always been at the heart of everything British Airways does and the airline has a number of measures in place at the airport and on board to look after the safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew. The air on all British Airways’ flights is fully recycled once every two to three minutes through HEPA filters, which remove microscopic bacteria and virus clusters with more than 99.9% efficiency, equivalent to hospital operating theatre standards. Additionally, British Airways always follows local regulations to ensure customers experience safe and smooth travel.

Shanghai and Beijing flights are now available to book through Global Travel Management.

Natalie

New venture opens up China to BA passengers

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British Airways has signed a joint business agreement with China Southern Airlines, for travel from 2 January 2020.

The agreement will benefit customers of both airlines by opening more destinations between the UK and China, with a greater choice of flights and enhanced frequent flyer benefits. It will allow the airlines to cooperate on scheduling and pricing, providing customers with more flexible flight options and an attractive range of fares.

British Airways customers will be able to travel more easily on a combined route network which will develop over time thanks to both airlines’ move to the new Beijing Daxing International Airport. The joint business will initially see the two airlines code-sharing on all direct flights operated on mainland routes between London and six Chinese cities. This will expand to both airlines’ extensive domestic networks.

Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO, said:

We are delighted to announce this joint business which will bring the UK and China closer together by providing British Airways and China Southern Airlines customers with a wide range of benefits. The agreement reinforces our commitment to boost tourism and business travel between the two countries and we look forward to strengthening the relationship further.

Paul Baker, Sales Director of Global Travel Management said:

This is an excellent opportunity for businesses travelling to the Chinese capital or to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Sanya, Wuhan and Zhengzhou. Because this arrangement between British Airways and China Southern will mean 31 direct flights a week between London and these six Chinese locations.

This deal builds on British Airways’ move to Beijing Daxing Airport – for more about this, see our news story here.

Customer benefits will include greater opportunities to collect frequent flyer points, the ability to book through both airlines’ web or app-based platforms, enhanced lounge access and access to high-quality Chinese and British products and services on board and on the ground.

If you’re looking to fly to any of these six locations in China, contact your GTM Account Manager to find and book the best fares.

Paul

British Airways Moves to Beijing Daxing.

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British Airways has announced that its direct flights between London Heathrow and Beijing will move to the new state-of-the-art Daxing Airport from 27 October 2019.

With a massive 52,000m2 available for retail, food and beverage and service, facilities at Beijing Daxing will include over 300 shops and restaurants and for those eligible passengers access to a brand-new partner lounge.

The new airport is approximately 50km from both Beijing city centre and the Xiong’an New Area and only 80km from Tianjin. Transport connections to and from Beijing Daxing include four new highways, two new subway lines and a high-speed railway, which will carry customers to Beijing West Station in under 20 minutes. A new terminal station is set to open in the Lize Business District in the next few years.  Customers transferring to other flights will also benefit from its status as the only through check-in airport for foreign airlines in China.

Beijing Daxing, which is due to open in September 2019, will initially house four runways and one terminal building. In the future, it is set to include an additional three runways and a second terminal building, serving 100million customers each year. The move will also help British Airways to strengthen and develop its network through its codeshare agreement with China Southern Airlines, which will also be based at the new airport.

The London to Beijing route will continue as a daily service, operated by a Boeing 787-9 in the winter and a Boeing 777-300 in the summer, with four cabins: First, Club World, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller.