London connections to China boosted with launch of new direct routes from Heathrow

The routes will have a combined capacity of 111,000 seats
PA Archive/PA Images

London connections with China have been boosted with two new direct routes from Heathrow to cities in the world’s second-biggest economy.

China Southern is launching flights to the fast growing mega-city of Wuhan and the southern resort of Sanya, which previously had no direct link with Europe.

The three times weekly services to Wuhan, known as the “Chicago of China”, begin this week before the twice-weekly service to Sanya on Hainan Island starts on 12 July.

The routes will have a combined capacity of 110,000 seats and 6,000 metric tonnes of cargo.

China’s ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, welcomed the launch of the routes, saying: ”I sincerely hope that these new routes will become bridges of mutual understanding and friendship between our two peoples, facilitating travels and exchanges between our two countries and giving fresh impetus to the Golden Era of China-UK relationship.”

However a spokeswoman for the hub said London’s direct connections to China are still lagging behind those of European rivals, and called on the Government to publish its final National Policy Statement on the planned third runway at Heathrow.

She said: “While connections to Chinese cities are clearly valuable to the UK, rival EU hub airports with capacity to connect directly to 10 other Chinese destinations, including mega-cities like Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Kunming, are facilitating more trade and investment to their respective countries.”

Last year’s services to China via Heathrow contributed £510 million to the UK economy, and supported up to 15,000 jobs, according to a study from Frontier Economics.

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