UK-China airlines: Virgin Atlantic to join AF-KLM/China Eastern JV

In Oct-2019 Air France-KLM and China Eastern announced that from spring 2020 Virgin Atlantic would be entering their joint venture agreement for flights between China and Europe.

Air France-KLM had already widened the scope of its partnership with China Eastern in Jan-2019. The addition of Virgin Atlantic to the JV reflects deeper ties following Air France-KLM's acquisition of a 31% share in the UK airline.

The Air France-KLM/China Eastern JV covers China to France and Netherlands, and the wider JV will add the China-UK routes of Virgin and China Eastern. Both operate London Heathrow to Shanghai Pudong, while China Eastern also operates to London Gatwick from Shanghai. China Eastern operates a further 125 routes from Shanghai Pudong, of which 66 are within China, offering significant domestic connections.

UK-China has been a strong growth market, with a number of new entrants and significant expansion by the market leader Air China. However, number two operator British Airways has shrunk in this market over the past three years. The JV with China Eastern gives Virgin an edge over its main UK rival BA and boosts Air France-KLM's position as the leading European airline group to China.