With increasing demand on travel, international flights by various airlines are on offer to create more options and convenience for travelers in Shanghai.
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines resumed routes from Shanghai to Jeju, Busan, Seoul and Nagoya in mid-May, offering local travelers more options for travel to Japan and South Korea.
Additionally, China Eastern has increased flights on routes such as Shanghai to London, Amsterdam, Moscow and Jakarta.
China International Airlines has also increased flight frequencies on routes from Shanghai to Frankfurt, London and Milan.
They are among the domestic airlines that have announced international and regional flight plans from May, following the announcement that starting from April 29, all visitors traveling to China no longer need to provide a negative PCR test result done prior 48 hours before boarding.
The first British Airways flight in more than two years arrived at Shanghai on April 24 after the company resumed its London-Shanghai route to China.
Some foreign airline companies have also returned to the Chinese market.
British Airways resumed its London-Shanghai route on April 24, becoming the first airline from the United Kingdom landing at Pudong International Airport in over two years.
“We are very proud to be able to reconnect the two great cities of London and Shanghai,” said Noella Ferns, Asia Pacific sales director with British Airways.
“In the future, we look forward to helping more passengers reunite with family and friends, pursue further education, and contribute more to promoting the recovery of the business and tourism industries.”
Currently, British Airways operates one round-trip per day between London Heathrow Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport, with BA169 and BA168.
The company plans to resume the Beijing-London route with four flights per week starting from June 3.
Virgin Atlantic, another airline company from the UK, officially resumed its London to Shanghai passenger flights earlier this month.
The route is operated by a Boeing 787-9 aircraft on a daily frequency, and the flight numbers for the round trip are VS250 and VS251.
The flight booking rate for Shanghai-London flights since the resumption has been approximately 70 percent, according to Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer of Virgin Atlantic.
“We are pleased with these numbers, considering that ticket sales started just over two months in advance,” Jarvinen said.
Virgin Atlantic and China Eastern have reached cooperation, allowing passengers to exchange and save flight credits between the two airlines.
The company will also share terminals with China Eastern at Pudong airport, solving baggage transfer issues for connecting flights and offering convenience to travelers.
Other European airlines, such as Lufthansa and Air France-KLM Group, have also resumed and increased flights between Shanghai and Munich, Shanghai and Paris, and Shanghai and Amsterdam, while upgrading their relevant services.
