First direct flight from Shanghai lands in Barcelona
The first plane connecting Shanghai and Barcelona landed at El Prat airport on Friday at 08:05am. The route, operated by Air China, is offered all year round, three days a week: Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The plane, an Airbus 330-200, has capacity for up to 239 tourist class ticket holders and 16 business class ticket holders. On its first trip, the plane had an 86% occupancy rate. The round trip from Barcelona to China departed from the Catalan capital at 12:30pm with an occupancy rate of 88%. All flights for the weekend are already fully booked. Òscar Olive, Airports of Catalonia's commercial director, praised Air China for “having been able to recognize” the “clear demand” for direct connections between Barcelona and Asia. The airline has offered a direct link between the Catalan capital and Beijing since 2014.
Barcelona (ACN).- The first plane connecting Shanghai and Barcelona landed at El Prat airport on Friday at 08:05am. The route, operated by Air China, is offered all year round, three days a week: Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The plane, an Airbus 330-200, has capacity for up to 239 tourist class ticket holders and 16 business class ticket holders. On its first trip, the plane had an 86% occupancy rate. The round trip from Barcelona to China departed from the Catalan capital at 12:30pm with an occupancy rate of 88%.
All flights for the weekend are already fully booked. Òscar Olive, Airports of Catalonia's commercial director, praised Air China for “having been able to recognize” the “clear demand” for direct connections between Barcelona and Asia. The airline has offered a direct link between the Catalan capital and Beijing since 2014.
During a press conference in Barcelona, representatives from Air China said that they decided to launch the new flight because indirect connections between the Catalan capital and Shanghai already surpassed more than 100,000 last year, a 19% increase.
Tourist class tickets for the Air China Shanghai-Barcelona direct flight start at €443, while business class tickets start at €2,043. Considering that Shanghai is the economical capital of China, the majority of passengers are expected to be businesspeople.
From Shanghai, passengers flying from Barcelona will be able to connect to other international destinations such as Japan, Taiwan, Australia or New Zealand. Cities from China such as Chengdu, Wenzhou, Fuzhou and Guangzhou are also served from Shanghai.