Gatwick airport takes on Heathrow with new China Eastern flights to Shanghai

Route to China’s commercial hub is latest to duplicate Heathrow network

Annette’s route in and out of Shanghai could present a problem (iStock)

Christmas travellers heading from the UK to Asia and Australasia have a new budget option. China Eastern has announced a new route from Gatwick to its hub at Shanghai’s Pudong airport, starting on 7 December 2018.

The three-times weekly flight will leave the Sussex airport at around noon on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arriving in China’s commercial capital at 7.30am next day, local time.

Return flights will leave Shanghai at 1.45am on the same days and fly through the night, arriving at Gatwick at 6.30am, local time.

Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Gatwick Airport said: “I’m delighted to welcome China Eastern to Gatwick and look forward to the start of this vital new link to Shanghai.

“Connections to China and other non-European countries will take on extra significance in a post-Brexit Britain as we become more reliant on them to generate vital growth through trade and by exploiting the other business opportunities that they provide.”

The new link will operate in addition to China Eastern’s existing daily service from Heathrow to Shanghai. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic also compete on the route from Heathrow.

Gatwick lost out to Heathrow in a bid to build the next runway in southeast England.

The move is the latest in a series of long-haul airlines setting up or restoring routes from Gatwick in parallel with existing Heathrow links.

Two years ago, Cathay Pacific re-launched services from Gatwick to its hub in Hong Kong with four flights a week, and in June 2017 the link became daily.

In May 2018, Qatar Airways restored its route from Gatwick to Doha, with twice daily flights to the Gulf hub. The link had been abandoned in 2011.

British Airways, which once ran a global long-haul network from Gatwick, has been adding routes that duplicate those from its main hub, Heathrow. Also in May it launched a three-times-weekly service from Gatwick to Toronto.

To Canada, WestJet has established a nationwide route network from Gatwick, including services to Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

At the same time, Norwegian has been building up a portfolio of routes from Gatwick in competition against BA and other airlines from Heathrow. The present network includes Austin, Boston, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Seattle and Singapore.

But in terms of frequency, Heathrow is way ahead of Gatwick on most long-haul routes where they compete.

Between them, Norwegian and British Airways have four flights a day to New York from Gatwick, compared with almost 30 from Heathrow. And this winter, while Heathrow will have nine daily flights to Dubai, on Emirates, BA and Virgin Atlantic, Gatwick has only three – all on Emirates.

Gatwick has some long-haul routes which Heathrow lacks, particularly for leisure destinations in Florida and the Caribbean.

But recent analysis from OAG suggests that Barbados, Cancun and Orlando could get links from Heathrow once the third runway opens.

A spokesperson for Heathrow said: “Gatwick’s growth is welcome news for the UK aviation industry and for passengers.

“However, it is misleading to infer its operations are anywhere near Heathrow’s. We are proud to serve as the country’s only Hub airport and biggest port by value, connecting Britain to over 200 destinations, including 78 long-haul services operating at least three times per week, 365 days of the year.

“We have nine long-haul routes to China and are set to welcome a new route to Chongqing this summer.

“When our new runway opens, we’ll have the capacity to add up to 40 new long-haul connections – making Britain the best connected country in the world.”

All other things being equal, fares from Gatwick tend to be lower than Heathrow, reflecting lower airport charges. For example, on the simultaneous Qatar Airways departures to Doha and onwards to Hong Kong on 1 September at 9.30pm, the outbound fare from Heathrow is £400, while the Gatwick service is £31 cheaper.