Hainan Airlines to link Changsha and London

Building on the success of its existing service between Beijing and Manchester, Hainan Airlines has revealed plans to launch flights between Changsha and London, starting in just two weeks.

The flights will be operated by modern 787 aircraft, fitted with all the latest amenities and inflight entertainment.

The flights will launch before the end of March. [File Photo: IC]

The news comes just days after we reported that a total of nine new flights between China and Europe are expected to be launched in the first half of 2018.

That's according to specialist publication Travel Weekly, who report that more routes could follow later in the year, too.

Several of the new flights will serve the United Kingdom at one end, including new connections between London and Wuhan, Xi'an and Changsha, and Edinburgh to Beijing via Dublin.

Previously, we'd reported that flights between Chengdu and London are set to resume in May after Air China revealed plans to operate the route.

British Airways had flown between the two cities several times a week, for five years between 2013 and 2017.

British Airways launched the route to much fanfare, including decorating an aircraft in a revised panda livery for the occasion.