UK/CHINA. London Heathrow Airport has this week introduced new direct routes to the Chinese cities of Wuhan and Sanya, in partnership with China Southern Airlines.
Both destinations are a first for direct routes into Heathrow; the connection to Sanya on Hainan Island is a first for Europe. These routes will create over 110,000 new seats for passengers travelling to and from the country. However, due to capacity constraints, European hub airports continue to have a competitive advantage in connecting to China, claimed Heathrow Airport.
Starting 30 May, China Southern launched three new weekly services to Wuhan, a megacity referred to as the ‘Chicago of China’. On 12 July the airline will begin two weekly scheduled services to popular tourist destination Sanya.
Last year’s services to China via Heathrow contributed £510 million (US$680 million) to the UK economy, and supported up to 15,000 jobs, according to Frontier Economics. “While connections to Chinese cities are clearly valuable to the UK, rival EU hub airports with capacity to connect directly to ten other Chinese destinations, including mega cities like Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Kunming, are facilitating more trade and investment to their respective countries,” noted Heathrow.
The Government is expected to vote over the coming weeks on a National Policy Statement on Heathrow’s plans for expansion. Expansion will allow the airport the capacity to offer up to 40 new long-haul destinations, as well as double its cargo capacity. This will provide the UK with much-needed trade infrastructure at a time when the country is looking to extend its trade relationships outside the EU.
The news of these new routes comes as Heathrow’s Export Climate Index* for Q1 reveals that the value of exports passing through the gateway to non-EU destinations increased by £2.9 billion (US$3.86 billion) compared to Q1 2017. However, the Export Climate Index has also shown that growth in passenger numbers remains constant due the capacity constraints faced by Heathrow.
Heathrow Chairman Lord Deighton said: “Today’s Export Climate Index results show that UK exporters are making the most of what they’ve got – and doubtless, they are excited about our new Chinese routes, and the untapped trade and investment opportunities these open up. However, our exporters also know they are at a disadvantage compared to their European counterparts, because Heathrow’s lack of capacity still means we are taking a limited and piecemeal approach to building long-haul trade routes.
“Heathrow is not only the country’s biggest airport, but also its biggest port by value – it is vital that we expand this key component of our trading infrastructure as we look for export opportunities outside the EU.
“A third runway will better enable British exporters to compete on a global stage, and we urge the Government to table its final National Policy Statement on expansion so that Parliament can vote and we can get on and deliver it.”
Chinese Ambassador to the UK HE Liu Xiaoming added: “I would like to extend my congratulations on the launch of the new air routes this summer linking London Heathrow with two bustling Chinese cities of Wuhan and Sanya respectively. The key to sound relationships between states lies in the affinity between the peoples, which largely stems from mutual understanding.
“I sincerely hope that these new routes will become bridges of mutual understanding and friendship between our two peoples, facilitating travels and exchanges between our two countries and giving fresh impetus to the Golden Era of the China-UK relationship.”
*Research carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
