News / Virgin Atlantic Cargo axes Shanghai route over cost concerns

Photo: Virgin Atlantic

Not even boundless volumes of ecommerce could save Virgin Atlantic’s Shanghai route, as higher costs put an end to the carrier’s Chinese aspirations.

From 26 October, Virgin Atlantic Cargo will no longer operate to Shanghai, a city it has served since 1999.

A spokesperson said that, after “careful consideration”, Virgin had had to take this “difficult decision”.

It added: “Significant challenges and complexities on this route have contributed to the commercial decision to suspend flying to Shanghai.”

The route has become expensive for European operators that can no longer overfly Russia. Heathrow-Shanghai flight times have gone up by one hour on the eastbound leg and two hours on the return, requiring additional aircraft and crew.

Virgin said that even strong cargo volumes were not enough to justify the additional costs for the route.

“Our Shanghai route was popular for our cargo customers in both directions,” a spokesperson told The Loadstar.  “We had good load factors, however, as we are a passenger airline, the total route performance is paramount to our network decisions.”

The carrier added that customers had been informed, but would continue to be served until the end of October. Virgin has no other China destinations, but added that “we’re always reviewing our network and the destinations we fly to”.

The spokesperson also noted that ecommerce was a big part of Virgin’s cargo business, but not all was from China.

“Whilet it’s fair to say Chinese manufacturing is significant, Virgin Atlantic Cargo (VS) is not missing out on ecommerce, as it carries plenty in other regions of the world, and it remains an important commodity for VS, as it is for many other carriers.”

Virgin is not the only airline to have struggled with the lack of overflight rights in Russia. Air France said earlier this year it wanted a level playing field with Chinese carriers.

“Air France supports the ramp-up of capacity between France and China, but there needs to be a level playing field,” a spokesman told ch-aviation. “Right now, there is a distortion of competition, which needs to be taken into account.”

Air France reportedly urged the French government to restrict Chinese airline access to France, or add taxes to create a similar cost base. However, not having to pay Russia for overflight rights had removed some cost.

US carriers have also complained, having concerns about foreign-operated flights that might have to be diverted to Russian airports, potentially compromising the safety of Americans on board.

However, in happier news for Virgin, today at the Farnborough Air Show it announced it had placed a firm order for seven A330 neo aircraft. The order follows that of National Airlines for four B777 freighters, while Korean Air committed to up to 50 Boeing widebodies, 777-9s and 787-10s, and Japan Airlines has ordered 20 A350-900s.