Shenzhen Airlines appears set to launch non-stop flights from its home base at Shenzhen Bao’an Airport to London Heathrow, with tickets already available to purchase for flights starting October 30, 2018.
Flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, flown by the airline’s new Airbus A330 aircraft. Shenzhen Airlines took delivery of its first A330 back in September last year.
Outbound flights departing Shenzhen will take 13 hours and 30 minutes, while the return leg out of London will take just 12 hours.
| Flight No. | From | To | Departs | Arrives | Days |
| ZH9067 | Shenzhen (SZX) | London (LHR) | 1410 | 1940 | Tue, Thu, Sun |
| ZH9068 | London (LHR) | Shenzhen (SZX) | 2140 | 1740+1 |
Shenzhen Airlines outfits its A330s with two classes – economy and business. At the time of writing, return economy class fares at the end of October/early November began at US$1,019, while business class fares started at US$3,390 inclusive of taxes and fees.
The route is the latest in a plethora of new launches from Chinese airlines that are connecting cities in mainland China with the UK capital.
China Southern – China’s largest airline by fleet size – is launching flights to London from Sanya this month, while Air China – Shenzhen Airlines’ parent airline – recently began flying to London from Chengdu.
Other carriers, including Beijing Capital Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Tianjin Airlines are also expanding their networks with new London routes.
[embed]https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2018/04/18/four-chinese-airlines-new-london-routes/[/embed]The growth of routes between the two countries follows an agreement back in December last year to increase the number of permitted flights per week between the UK and China to 150, up from 100.
