Summary

Earlier this week, British Airways announced that it would resume direct flights from Shanghai to London from the 26^th of September, with ticket sales officially opened on the 17^th September, and will operate two flights per week. Virgin Atlantic had previously resumed its flights in earlier August and will operate an additional flight from Shanghai starting from 3rd September, while several Chinese airlines had continued to operate flights throughout the epidemic period.

In addition to these scheduled flights, China’s Hainan Airlines has confirmed additional charter flights for Chinese students to the UK. The flight is scheduled to depart from Chongqing to Manchester directly from 21^st September onwards and costs around GBP 1,400 for economy and GBP 3,500 for business class. There are 23 UK universities involved and their students could make reservations through the university channels. These flights are in addition to a charter flight organised by Queen’s University Belfast, which arrived in the UK on 20th September.

The 23 institutions involved in the Hainan Airlines charter flight are: Bangor University; Bath Spa University; Cardiff University; Manchester Metropolitan University; Royal Northern College of Music; Sheffield Hallam University; University of Bath; University of Bolton; University of Bristol; University of Durham; University of Exeter; University of Lancaster; University of Leeds; University of Liverpool; University of Manchester; University of Newcastle; University of Plymouth; University of Salford; University of Sheffield; University of South Wales; University of Swansea; University of West England, Bristol; University of York.

Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, IES

Availability of flights between China and the UK is still a major issue for international students – in a recent survey carried out by the British Council, 58 per cent of Chinese applicants described this as an area they are “very concerned” about. The new scheduled and charter flights will make it easier for Chinese students to travel to the UK, although capacity is still substantially lower (and prices are still substantially higher) than before the pandemic.

Sources:

1. QUB charter flight: https://www.qub.ac.uk/International/International-students/offer-holders/agents/china-flight-information/

2. Hainan Airways: https://www.hnair.com/guanyuhaihang/hhdt/hhgg/202009/t20200916_45131.html

3. British Airways: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA3NjEyODczMQ==&mid=2649757295&idx=1&sn=3d559a314a637246d98f509d8e3f9a93