The Hong Kong-London route is one of the most searched city pairs on British Airways’ (BA) website, says the airline’s Chief Customer Officer Calum Laming.
Such growing interest dovetails with the solid air traffic growth of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), where passenger volume grew 16.5 percent year-on-year over the first half of 2025.
“This region remains of paramount importance to us,” Laming tells China Daily in an interview aboard its newest Airbus A350 at HKIA. The carrier is also seeing renewed interest in the Chinese mainland, and is expecting to welcome “different types of customers that they wouldn’t have seen on board before” with the backing of a visa-free transit policy for easier travel to the world’s second-largest economy.
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Since China introduced unilateral visa-free entry and mutual visa exemption agreements with 75 countries as part of its efforts to promote international exchanges, foreign visitors’ entries and exits over the first six months of 2025 were up 30.2 percent from the same period last year.
About 71.2 percent of visitors traveled under a visa-free scheme, representing a year-on-year growth of 53.9 percent, according to the National Immigration Administration.
Currently, United Kingdom passport holders are included in the 240-hour transit visa-free policy but haven’t yet been added to the growing list eligible for China’s 30-day visa-free scheme. The airline would like to see the UK join this program to turbocharge demand.
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The global aviation industry is now grappling with airspace closure, longer flight times and increased costs under the shadow of geopolitical tensions. Laming says BA is well on pace to re-establish its presence in Asian markets with new aircraft and enhanced services as part of its 7-billion pound ($9.5 billion) transformation plan announced last year, the largest in its history.
The carrier resumed services from London to Bangkok at the end of 2024 and reintroduced flights to Kuala Lumpur this April. It currently operates one direct flight a day between London and Hong Kong, and also one with Shanghai.
As the SAR sits on the China-UK aviation corridor, Laming highlights the strategic positioning of the city as a transit hub for BA to nurture ties with its partner airlines.
Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flag carrier, now operates 12 destinations on codeshare with BA for the first time ever, including Manila, he notes. The partnership also helps BA connect to destinations in New Zealand and Australia, including Auckland, Melbourne and Brisbane. Both carriers are founding members of the oneworld global airline alliance.
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The London-headquartered airline is also capitalizing on the ability of its partner China Southern Airlines to overfly airspace which it cannot. BA paused its direct flights between London and Beijing in October last year but Laming stresses it keeps a close eye on global events and will revisit the route when the dust settles.
“Aviation is an industry that is constantly challenged as we operate on a global basis. We are used to facing challenges, and we will continue to face challenges every single day and respond,” Laming says. “We remain committed to this market.”
Contact the writer at sophialuo@chinadailyhk.com
