Find cheap flights to Shanghai from £259

There are two airports serving Shanghai: Pudong Airport, which serves international flights to China and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA), which serves domestic flights within China and to East Asia. When travelling from the UK you will arrive into Shanghai Pudong (PDG). You can connect between the two airports by using Metro Line 2, which leaves from Pudong International Airport Station. It will take 90min and a one-way ticket costs around ¥8 (£0.89).

The easiest and fastest way to reach central Shanghai is by Metro. Trains depart every few minutes and take approximately 59min to reach the city centre. You’ll arrive at Nanjing Road East Station in the centre. A single ticket costs around ¥7 (£0.78). You can also take the Shanghai Maglev Train. The Maglev is the fastest electric train in the world and travels at around 268 miles per hour. It completes the 19 mile between the airport and Longyang Road Station in 30min. From there you complete your journey to the city by metro. A single ticket costs around ¥50 (£5.50). If you prefer a taxi, a day fare from Pudong airport to People’s Square in the centre of Shanghai will cost around ¥180 (£20). The night fare, which runs from 23:00 until 05:00, will cost around ¥230 (£26).

There are a number of hotels within walking distance or a short shuttle bus ride from arrivals. These include the Ramada Pudong Airport Shanghai and the Dazhong Airport Hotel Shanghai. In Terminal Two you will also find the airport's T2 Max Airport Lounge. This is a facility that allows you to hire a small room with hotel standards by the hour. It’s a great service if you arrive at night and would rather wait until daytime to travel into the city.

There are many carriers flying from the UK to Shanghai, including British Airways, Virgin, Lufthansa, Etihad, Air China, China Eastern and more. They will usually transit between airports, such as Frankfurt, Tokyo Haneda and Beijing Capital. There are some direct flights. For example, China Eastern flies direct from Heathrow as does British Airways, although usually at a significant premium.

Out of the 2 airports in Shanghai, Shanghai Hongqiao Intl is the nearest to the city center (9 miles). You'll travel 19 miles to reach the center of Shanghai if you land in Shanghai Pudong Airport

On average, a flight to Shanghai costs £489. The cheapest price found on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks cost £261 and departed from London Gatwick Airport.

KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights to Shanghai.

KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to Shanghai is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional round-trip ticket. You could then fly to Shanghai with an airline and back with another airline.

Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying to Shanghai up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.