5th new long-haul route for London Gatwick this summer: Air China resumes Chengdu flights
April 5, 2026
London Gatwick Airport will be gaining yet another new route this summer as Air China resumes its Chengdu route from July 2026. The service was replaced in 2019 when the company decided to shift it to Heathrow. Now, it seems that both routes will operate simultaneously.
This will become London Gatwick’s 5th new long-haul route this summer, alongside Sharjah, Entebbe, Bangkok and Ottawa. Beijing Capital Airlines is also introducing regular flights on its Qingdao route that operated for a limited period last year.
Air China expands Gatwick flights with Chengdu resumption
Air China will resume its Chengdu Tianfu to London Gatwick route from 12 July 2026, operating four weekly flights until early-August. The route will then be suspended briefly, before taking off again in September with two weekly frequencies.
| Direction | Departure time | Arrival time |
|---|---|---|
| Chengdu to Gatwick | 14:00 (Mon & Wed) & 13:45 (Fri and Sun) | 18:25 (Mon), 18:30 (Wed), 18:05 (Fri & Sun) |
| Gatwick to Chengdu | 20:20 | 14:00 (+1) |
It will use an Airbus A350-900 for the route which will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday according to schedules filed to aviation analytics firm Cirium this week. Flights are already listed in booking systems. These will complement its Heathrow flights which operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This will be Air China’s third route from Gatwick, alongside a double daily connection from Beijing and daily services from Shanghai. It also operates double daily flights from Beijing to Heathrow, as well as its thrice-weekly Chengdu connection. It does not serve Heathrow from Shanghai.
Air China’s Chengdu flights bring Gatwick’s new long-haul routes this summer to 5
The company’s Chengdu connection will bolster Gatwick’s ever-growing long-haul connectivity. Comparing Cirium schedules to last summer, four other long-haul destinations were not served last year. This includes Bangkok, Entebbe, Sharjah and Ottawa.
| Destination | Airline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bangkok | British Airways | The route was resumed in Winter 2024. It operates thrice-weekly this summer on a Boeing 777. |
| Entebbe | Uganda Airlines | Four-weekly on an Airbus A330-800neo. |
| Sharjah | Air Arabia | Airbus A321LRs fly this route twice-daily. It was launched at the end of last month. |
| Ottawa | Air Transat | Thrice-weekly on an Airbus A321LR. |
British Airways’ Bangkok route was resumed in October 2024 after a roughly four-year hiatus. Gatwick is primarily a leisure-focused gateway for the airline, operating a small fleet of Boeing 777s.
Uganda Airlines began its Entebbe-London Gatwick route in May last year onboard the rare Airbus A330-800. It has had a few operational hiccups, especially over the last few months. Its pair of A330neos were grounded for maintenance, and it was forced to turn to Ethiopian Airlines to wet-lease a Boeing 787 to maintain its flights to the English capital. The aircraft – ET-ASI – is still flying to London for the carrier at the time of publication.
Air Arabia’s Sharjah flights are the only services to the UAE city from the United Kingdom. The A321LRs have operated twice-daily since the route was launched on 29 March 2026.
Air Transat’s new Ottawa-London Gatwick flights will begin on 15 May 2026. They will be offered thrice-weekly on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, using its fleet of Airbus A321LR planes. In total, direct flights between the UK and Canada on Air Transat will rise to 34 weekly during the peak summer season.
Featured image: Markus Mainka | stock.adobe.com
