Virgin Atlantic Pulls Out of China as Heathrow-Shanghai Route Axed

(Bloomberg) — Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. is suspending flights between London Heathrow and Shanghai from October, abandoning the only route it operates to China because of the high cost associated with avoiding Russian air space.

Stopping the London Heathrow-Shanghai route, a service it has operated since 1999, further reduces the airline’s Asia-Pacific links after Virgin already closed routes to Hong Kong, Lahore and Islamabad in recent years. The British carrier’s business is more weighted to transatlantic travel, with a new focus on passages to India.