Number of direct flights from Manchester to China set to increase as demand soars

Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines, which began flying to Beijing last June, is to make its flights a daily service from the summer, having already upped the number of weekly flights from four to five, due to its popularity.

The new service means capacity has increased 31 per cent between Manchester and the Chinese capital.

In addition to this Cathay Pacific will make its Hong Kong route daily from December, with an increase to five flights a week from June.

Undated Handout Photo of Palace Museum in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China. See PA Feature TRAVEL China. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Handout.

The airport said that both services have already had a significant impact on driving trade, investment and tourism in the North since starting, valuing the contribution to tourism alone at around £100m a year.

Yorkshire has seen much inward investment from China. A recent partnership agreement from Sheffield City Council and the Chinese-led Sichaun Guodong will see major investment worth more than £200m in Sheffield, including apartments, offices, leisure facilities and, potentially, a five-star hotel.

Ken O’Toole, chief executive of Manchester Airport, said: “Securing direct services to China was a long-standing ambition of Manchester Airport and the region as a whole. The fact the Beijing and Hong Kong routes have been so successful is testament to both the strength of the North’s economy and its rich cultural, sporting and leisure scene, which has been hugely popular with Chinese visitors.

Steve Brown at Make it York said: “Here in York there continues to be rapid growth in the number of Chinese visitors and this new daily service will clearly help to keep this going. This will also be significant for our two universities both of which have impressive numbers of Chinese students.”

And Chris Scholey, from Local Enterprise Board of the Sheffield City Region, said: “This is great news for this region and the whole of the Northern Powerhouse. “We have a thriving international business community in the Sheffield City Region and the news of a daily flight to Beijing is very good indeed.”