Virgin Atlantic axes Hong Kong flights, permanently

Virgin Atlantic has announced that it is permanently ending flights to Hong Kong.

It is also closing down its Hong Kong office “after almost 30 years of proudly serving this Asian hub city.” Flights were due to resume in March 2023.

This change will whittle down Virgin Atlantic’s East Asia network even further. Shanghai is the last remaining route and this will resume from the end of March – if it doesn’t suffer the same fate.

Culling Hong Kong won’t have a huge impact on the business. Flights have been suspended since December 2021 due to action by the Hong Kong government.

Virgin Atlantic is blaming “Significant operational complexities due to the ongoing Russian airspace closure.” According to the airline, flight times would be between 1hr and 1hr50 longer due to the closure, which has impacts for aircraft utilisation and fuel costs.

The airlines says that the capacity unlocked by the suspension will allow it to increase flights elsewhere, although in reality – given this route hasn’t been flown since 2021 – this has probably already happened.

If you have a ticket for a Virgin Atlantic flight to Hong Kong you will be contacted over the coming days and offered a refund, voucher or rebooking onto another service.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (February 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

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Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

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You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

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Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

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American Express Business Gold

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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.