After 30 years in the Asian city, the British airline Virgin Atlantic decided on Wednesday to suspend its Heathrow-Hong Kong services, close its Hong Kong office, and not resume flights in March 2023 due to issues related to the closure of Russian airspace. The decision comes after the airline experienced issues with the closure of Russian airspace.
Several airlines, who were already hurting from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, have been forced to cancel flights and plan longer routes in order to avoid flying into Russian and Ukrainian airspace as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the statement released by the airline that was established by billionaire Richard Branson, “significant operational complications due to the ongoing Russian airspace closure have led to the commercial decision not to resume operations in March 2023 as planned.”
Since December of the previous year, Virgin Atlantic has not flown to Hong Kong, and since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several other airlines have also chosen to avoid routing their flights across Russia’s airspace.
The move is expected to have an impact on approximately 46 positions at Virgin Atlantic, including office workers and cabin crew, according to reports that surfaced in the media earlier in the day.
