AIR CHINA may restart flights from Heathrow to Hong Kong if a study into new services proves favourable.
The airline pulled its daily service to the Chinese city a year ago following price cutting by rival airlines British Airways and Cathay Pacific.
Air China UK market development manager Richard Burgess said traffic on the route was increasing after an upturn in the Asian economy. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has also improved its financial results in the past few months.
Burgess said a return to the route would not be as soon as next year, but future services were possible.
Burgess said traffic on the carrier’s only UK route, a thrice-weekly service to Beijing, had only 10% of the passenger potential of Hong Kong.
Before relaunching the Hong Kong route, Air China is more likely to increase the Beijing flight to four a week – the same as BA – within 18 months.
The airline had considered launching Heathrow-Shanghai flights following Virgin Atlantic’s start of twice-weekly services on the route in May, but Burgess said the economics did not work out. It was discovered Shanghai would only attract 9% of Beijing’s numbers.