Study abroad craze boosts Virgin's Shanghai-London air route
( 2002-11-02 14:07 ) (8 )

A Chinese craze for studying in Britain have caused London-based Virgin Atlantic Airways, the second largest British carrier, to consider adding more flights between Shanghai and London.

Virgin Atlantic was forced to cancel some of its trans-Atlantic routes after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, which caused a slump in the whole aviation industry.

The London-Shanghai route, however, has maintained steady growth since it opened in July 1999. The route brings in 6 percent of the airline's total turnover and the figure is expected to increase to more than 10 percent.

The airline attributes its active Chinese market to the increasing number of Chinese students pursuing study in Britain. Virgin also tries to beat the competition by offering discounts for Chinese students.

The British Consulate in Shanghai received more than 20,432 Chinese applications for a British visa in the last three quarters. Among them, nearly one-third were applying for a student visa, an year-on-year increase of almost 40 percent.

From July to September, nearly half of the passengers on Virgin Atlantic were students. The total for this year so far is more than 6,000.

Insiders in Shanghai say in coming years, these students will probably become business passengers of Virgin and their relatives and friends will fly frequently on the lucrative route.

Sources with the Shanghai office of the British airline said the company is ready to meet the challenges of other airlines, and already provides Chinese stewardesses, Chinese films and Chinese food on Shanghai flights.