Virgin Atlantic drops Shanghai flights, its last East Asian destination
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
Whilst no announcement has been made, Virgin Atlantic appears to be dropping its daily flight to Shanghai.
The flight has been removed from the schedule from 26th October, which is the last day of the summer flying season.
Shanghai is the only Virgin Atlantic route to China and indeed the only remaining route to East Asia.
Virgin Atlantic has flown to Shanghai for over 20 years, so this is not the cancellation of a route being run as a trial. However, with Tokyo and Hong Kong dropped in recent years, it was beginning to look like an outlier.
The logic for dropping it is there, I accept. At 13-14 hours each way, due to the diversion for flying around Russian airspace, the same aircraft could do two runs to New York or Boston in the time taken for one return to Shanghai. No doubt we will see Virgin Atlantic launch yet another new route to the USA in the next few weeks.
It is well publicised that Chinese tourism has not yet returned en masse post pandemic. Chinese tourism to the UK has also been disproportionately hit by the removal of VAT reclamation on luxury goods (indeed, all goods) for tourists.
For those Chinese who do still choose to visit the UK, flight times are shorter on Chinese carriers which are still flying over Russia.
What does this mean for the new Seoul route?
Looking eastwards, Delhi is now, surprisingly, the furthest east you can fly on Virgin Atlantic.
The airline is still committed to launching flights to Seoul as soon as the Korean Air and Asiana merger is approved.
This route is likely to go ahead. Virgin Atlantic is being given extra slots at Heathrow specifically to fly to Seoul and Korean may have committed to purchase a minimum number of seats each day as part of its codeshare agreement.
The merger can only go ahead if another airline agrees to fly long-haul between the UK and Seoul so you can be fairly certain that it will happen, one way or another.
If you are booked to travel to Shanghai with Virgin Atlantic, the airline will be in touch to discuss rerouting. I suspect you will be encouraged to move to China Eastern as a fellow SkyTeam member.
PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.
How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard
3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review
You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.
American Express Business Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.
babyg 
Bernard 
AL 
Peter K 
Richie 
ADS 
Jonathan 
LittleNick 
Londonsteve 
Erico1875 
Ironside 
Dace 
JDB 
Bob 
Wally1976 
Tao 
Ed 
Rob 
Scanditraveller 
Pogonation 
Henry Young 
The Streets 
Dubious 
Comments (149)