Manchester-Shanghai Direct Flight to Launch in July

Starting this July, plans to launch a new direct flight between Manchester and Shanghai will be put into action. The original plan to start a direct Manchester-Shanghai flight was shelved due to COVID-19.

Beginning on July 1 of this year, Juneyao Air will operate the service using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner equipped with business and economy class seats, three days a week: Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays.

In 2019, the Chinese private airline first revealed intentions for three times-a-week flights connecting the two cities via Helsinki. Due to the pandemic, the route that was originally scheduled to debut in March 2020 was cancelled.

For the first time, direct flights from the north of England to Shanghai are being offered, and it is the airline’s first destination in the United Kingdom. Manchester will have direct flights to the Chinese mainland, making it the sole English airport outside of London to do so.

Mr Wang Junjin, the chairman at Juneyao Air, said: “In late 2019, we announced the launch of the Shanghai-Manchester route in cooperation with Manchester Airport; but we had to postpone the flight schedule due to the pandemic. However, our internationalisation strategy never ends.

“I am delighted to see that with the joint efforts of all parties, the Shanghai-Manchester route will resume this July, becoming the first direct scheduled passenger route between Shanghai and Manchester.”

In addition to providing more flexible travel alternatives and business prospects, he hoped the new route would strengthen economic ties between the two cities, and eventually between the UK, and China.

Manchester Airport greeted the route with open arms, seeing it as a cultural and economic boon for the north of England that would encourage travel both ways and facilitate trade and investment.

Shanghai, the largest city in China and a major financial centre, has been visited indirectly by around 185,000 visitors annually from the north of England.

More than 40 universities will be accessible to hundreds of thousands of Chinese students via the route, within two hours of Manchester Airport.

Chris Woodroofe, the Managing Director at Manchester Airport, said, “The fact Juneyao Air has chosen Manchester as its first UK service is a huge boost to the region for so many reasons.

“It will allow people to travel and see one of the world’s most incredible cities, open up opportunities for business and trade with China’s financial hub and help the north’s Chinese community connect with their family and friends.

“Not only will visitors from Shanghai get access to the great cities and regions of the north, including, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, North Wales and the Scottish borders, this route will give them a great new entry point to the UK as a whole. We look forward to working with Juneyao to make this route a success.”

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