British Airways wants to see UK added to China's visa waiver scheme
China has been steadily extending its 30-day visa waiver scheme. As of June, it included 55 countries. It does not include Britain, although British passport holders last year were included in a 240-hour transit visa-free policy.
"We're working with the UK government and diplomatically with the China government around seeing if we can get the UK into that programme," the airline's Chief Planning and Strategy Officer, Neil Chernoff, told media in Shanghai.
"I think that that's one way that we can improve demand."
British Airways suspended flights to Beijing in October, one of several foreign carriers that pulled Chinese services as they struggle with a ban on flying over Russian airspace and a slower than expected rebound in Chinese travel after the pandemic.
Longer flights around Russia mean higher fuel and crew costs, and aircraft utilisation is lower, putting airlines that cannot overfly Russia at a disadvantage to Chinese carriers that can take those shorter routes.
"In a place like China, which is not subject to the same restrictions we have in the UK, they can obviously offer a more competitive product because their flight times are less," Chernoff said.
British Airways, which still flies daily to Shanghai and Hong Kong, is constantly evaluating whether to bring back its Beijing route. Demand has not caught up with increasing supply since the pandemic, Chernoff said.
When the direct flights from London Heathrow to Beijing were halted, the airline initially said the suspension would last until November 2025, but there is no timeline yet of when they will resume, Chernoff said at an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of British Airways' Shanghai route.
Britain's Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
British Airways has a joint venture with state-owned China Southern and on Wednesday said it was deepening it by allowing frequent flier points to be collected and redeemed by both sides.
(Reporting by Casey Hall, Sophie Yu and Lisa Barrington. Editing by Mark Potter)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Apple defeats UK order that would give law enforcement access to encrypted user data
Apple has secured a victory in defeating a proposed mandate from the British government that would have required the company to provide backdoor access to user data uploaded to the cloud. The February order from the British government that mandated access to data, including encrypted data on cloud services, provoked fury from the US tech industry, which has accused the UK of Orwellian practices in policing online content. 'Over the past few months, I've been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside President Trump and Vice President Vance to ensure Americans' private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected,' Tulsi Gabbard, US director of National Intelligence, announced on X on Tuesday. 'As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a 'back door' that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens.' Technology tycoon and entrepreneur Elon Musk responded to Ms Gabbard's post with an arm flex emoji. Mr Musk has been highly critical of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party over the backdoor data access policy. Apple has not yet responded to The National's requests for a comment on this story. According to The Washington Post, which first broke the story about the law colloquially known as the 'Snoopers' Charter', the proposed legislation would have made it a criminal offence for a company to reveal that the government had made a request to access data. The policy push is not unique to the UK, with police and security services around the world advocating for more access to encrypted communications in recent years, warning that encryption can benefit criminals. For Apple, the matter has proven to be particularly sensitive, given the company's significant marketing emphasis on user privacy. In 2016, the US-based consumer technology company challenged a federal magistrate's order to unlock an iPhone used in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack. At the time, Apple chief executive Tim Cook argued that such a move would undermine encryption by creating a backdoor that could potentially be used on other future devices. 'The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers – including tens of millions of American citizens – from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals,' he said. 'We can find no precedent for an American company being forced to expose its customers to a greater risk of attack.' He added that the demand threatened the security of Apple's customers and had 'implications far beyond the legal case at hand'. During prosecution, the FBI announced that it had found its own way to access the iPhone data for the accused terror suspects. As far back as 2010, when Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs was still at the helm of the company, Apple was considered to be significantly more stringent than other Silicon Valley companies when it came to protecting user privacy. 'A lot of people think we're old fashioned about this,' Mr Jobs said during the D8 conference that same year. 'We take privacy extremely seriously.' Some, however, have questioned whether Apple's commitment to privacy is more style than substance, and whether it is just an attempt to sell more devices and services. 'Privacy … that's iPhone,' the advertisement concludes.
Zawya
4 hours ago
- Zawya
Switzerland is considering joining 'dirty money' task force, UK official says
Switzerland is considering joining a British-led international task force targeting kleptocrats and recovering stolen assets, a British government official said, as it seeks to shake off its reputation as a haven for dirty money. Foreign minister David Lammy discussed the International Anti-Corruption Coordination (IACCC) with the Swiss government during a visit to the country earlier this month, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Swiss government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Joining the task force would allow Swiss authorities to share intelligence and work more closely with other countries on major investigations targeting dirty money. Lammy told Reuters that Switzerland is "a key partner in the fight against illicit finance and corruption" and its participation in the IACCC would be "invaluable". Switzerland, the world's largest manager of offshore wealth, has tried to shed its image as a safe haven for illicit funds and has recently taken steps to improve transparency, including proposing stricter rules on beneficial ownership. The IACCC task force was launched in 2017 and is hosted by Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA). It brings together enforcement bodies from countries including the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to share intelligence and coordinate investigations. Since it was founded, it has identified 1.8 billion pounds in suspected stolen funds, and frozen 641 million pounds of assets, the IACCC says. Britain has ramped up its efforts to tackle illicit finance since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It has positioned itself as a leader in the global fight against kleptocracy, but it still faces its own challenges on that front. The NCA estimates that over 100 billion pounds ($135.32 billion) is laundered through or within the UK each year, often via British-registered corporate structures. ($1 = 0.7390 pounds)
Zawya
5 hours ago
- Zawya
UK grocery inflation edges lower in August, Worldpanel says
LONDON - British grocery inflation nudged down to 5.0% over the four weeks to August 10, data from market researcher Worldpanel by Numerator showed on Tuesday, providing limited relief for consumers. The figure, the most up-to-date snapshot of UK food inflation, compares to 5.2% in last month's report. Official UK inflation data for July will be published on Wednesday. Britain's food retailers have said that increased employer taxes and regulatory costs as well as higher staff wages have added to the inflationary pressure of rising prices on many commodity markets. "We've seen a marginal drop in grocery price inflation this month, but we're still well past the point at which price rises really start to bite and consumers are continuing to adapt their behaviour to make ends meet," Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said. He noted consumer trips during the three months to mid-July to casual and fast service restaurants were 6% lower than a year ago. But as consumers made savings outside the home, they sought treats in store. Sales of branded grocery items were up 6.1% over the four weeks, while sales of own-label alternatives were up 4.1%. Among the fastest price rises were for chocolate, fresh meat and coffee and the fastest falls were in champagne and sparkling wine, dog food and sugar confectionery, Worldpanel said. Trade body the British Retail Consortium, which represents Britain's biggest retailers, has predicted food inflation will hit 6% by the end of the year, putting more pressure on household budgets in the run-up to Christmas. The Bank of England has forecast it will hit 5.5% before Christmas and then recede as it anticipates falls on commodity markets. Worldpanel said UK grocery sales grew 4.0% over the four-week period year-on-year, indicating sales volumes were down after inflation was taken into account. Discounter Lidl and online supermarket Ocado were Britain's fastest growing grocers over the 12 weeks to August 10, with sales up 10.7%. Sales at industry leader Tesco rose 7.4%, with its market share up 0.8 percentage points over the year to 28.4%. However, number three player Asda struggled with sales down 2.6% and a 0.9 percentage points loss of market share year-on-year. UK supermarkets' market share and sales growth (%) Market share 12 wks to August 10 2025 Market share 12 wks to August 11 2024 % change in sales (yr-on-yr) Tesco 28.4 27.6 7.4 Sainsbury's 15.0 14.9 5.2 Asda 11.8 12.7 -2.6 Aldi 10.8 10.8 4.8 Morrisons 8.4 8.7 0.9 Lidl 8.3 7.8 10.7 Co-operative 5.4 5.8 -3.2 Waitrose 4.4 4.4 4.8 Iceland 2.3 2.3 3.4 Ocado 1.9 1.8 10.7 Source: Kantar (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Kate Holton and Barbara Lewis)
