Why It’s Getting Harder to Fly to China

For American and European travelers, the options of flights in and out of China are narrowing by the day.

Virgin Atlantic, the British airline, said Flight VS251 on Saturday would be its last one connecting Shanghai to London, suspending a route that it first operated 25 years ago. LOT Polish Airlines will suspend its Warsaw-to-Beijing flights after Thursday, while the Scandinavian airline SAS said it planned to halt direct flights between Copenhagen and Shanghai next month.

When China lifted its strict Covid-19 restrictions in 2022, the expectation was that business travel would rebound to prepandemic levels with executives returning to the country, the world’s second-largest economy, in droves. But that hasn’t materialized.

Over the last several months, many international airlines have suspended or reduced the frequency of flights in and out of China. For European and British carriers, the ongoing war in Ukraine has prevented non-Chinese airlines from flying over Russian airspace. This means longer travel times for passengers and inflated costs for airlines forced to take a longer route.

“Significant challenges and complexities” on flying in and out of China contributed to Virgin Atlantic’s decision to suspend its London-Shanghai route, its only China flight, the airline said in a statement. The company noted that avoiding Russia airspace has added one hour to its Shanghai-bound flight from London and two hours going the other way, requiring additional spending for fuel and crew.

The increased costs deliver a heavier blow, because the flights to China are not teeming with passengers. The sluggish Chinese economy and a growing unease from foreign companies about operating in the country has crimped demand for work