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Everything you should know

Direct flights
You can fly direct with China Eastern, British Airways, and others. Average duration is 11h 34m.
FAQs
FAQs
Top airlines
Most flights • 22 per week
Best reviews • 7.5 score
Airline reviews
+1
Airline reviews
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When to book
in advance
Our data shows that travellers who book at least 13 weeks in advance save around 19% compared to booking last minute.
Insights
Insights
When to travel
Cheapest • 14% price drop
Most popular
Good to know
+1
Good to know
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Flight Deals

Cheap Flights to Shanghai

 
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent return flight deals to Shanghai

Multiple Airlines Logo
LHR  London Heathrow Airport-CN2 London Canonbury
5724 mimulti-stop
Multiple Airlines Logo
CN2  London Canonbury-LHR London Heathrow Airport
5724 mimulti-stop
Multiple Airlines
Multiple Airlines Logo
LGW  London Gatwick Airport-CN2 London Canonbury
5730 mimulti-stop
Multiple Airlines Logo
CN2  London Canonbury-LGW London Gatwick Airport
5730 mimulti-stop
Multiple Airlines
Booking Insights

Price, demand, and travel trends for flights to Shanghai

Use KAYAK data on prices, travel dates, airlines, and seasonal trends to compare options and book flights with more confidence.

What is the cheapest day to fly to Shanghai?

Wednesday is the cheapest day to fly to Shanghai at £656 return on average over the past 12 months on KAYAK. Thursday is the most expensive at £693.

What is the cheapest month to fly to Shanghai?

•January is the cheapest month to fly to Shanghai with an average price of £560 return.
•December (£783) and August (£761) are the most expensive.
•Based on KAYAK data over the past 12 months.

What is the cheapest time of day to fly to Shanghai?

Night flights to Shanghai are the cheapest at £635 return on average. Afternoon flights are the most expensive at £683.

When are flights to Shanghai the cheapest?

Flights to Shanghai are cheapest 13 weeks before departure. Booking in this window typically costs about 19% less than the average last-minute fare (within 2 weeks of the flight), based on KAYAK data.

Key details for flights to Shanghai

Low season

January
Beat the crowds with an average 32% drop in traveller numbers.
The most popular month to fly with an average 28% increase in traveller numbers.

When to book flights to Shanghai

Are your dates flexible? Find out the best times to travel to Shanghai based on our flight data from the last year. Discover the cheapest month and even day to fly.
Estimated return price

Your questions about flights to Shanghai, answered

Find helpful route details based on KAYAK data, including flight times, airports, airlines, and booking questions.

  • How do I know if a flight to Shanghai is a good deal?

    A good deal on a flight to Shanghai is around £548 return. This fare is in the lowest 25% of return flight prices searched on KAYAK, averaged across the cities most often searched as origins by KAYAK users.

  • Which airports serve Shanghai?

    Flights to Shanghai arrive at: Shanghai Pu Dong (PVG) and Shanghai Hongqiao Intl (SHA).

  • How expensive are last-minute flights to Shanghai?

    Last-minute fares to Shanghai (booked within two weeks of departure) are typically 13% higher than the average return fare of £652.

  • What is the difference between the most popular and the most frequent airline at Shanghai?

    China Eastern operates the most flights from the United Kingdom to Shanghai at 22 per week, and for this route China Eastern is also the airline most often selected by KAYAK users searching for flights from the United Kingdom to Shanghai. The two are sometimes different because flight volume reflects an airline's schedule, while popularity reflects traveller choice.

  • Which airlines should I consider for flights to Shanghai?

  • Which airports serve Shanghai and the surrounding area?

    Flights to Shanghai can arrive at several major airports serving the metro area, including Shanghai Pu Dong (PVG) and Shanghai Hongqiao Intl (SHA).

  • How many airports are there in Shanghai?

    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).

  • Are there good public transport options at Shanghai Pudong?

    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).

  • Are there airport hotels at Shanghai Pudong?

    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.

  • What are the main airlines flying from the UK to Shanghai Pudong and are they direct?

    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.

Your guide to booking Shanghai flights

From booking to airport arrival, find tips to help you plan your flight with more confidence.
  • For the best chance at a low fare to Shanghai, book around 13 weeks before departure. Based on KAYAK data from the last 12 months, fares are historically about 19% lower during this window than last-minute fares.
  • For flights to Shanghai, a good return fare is around £548. If you find a fare below that, you're getting a strong deal.
  • If your travel dates are flexible, consider flying to Shanghai in January. Return fares historically average £560, making January the cheapest month to travel based on KAYAK data from the last 12 months.
  • Before you book:

    • Check the route's typical price range so you can spot a deal.
    • Confirm baggage fees and seat selection costs on budget carriers.
    • Verify whether you need any travel documents beyond an ID.
    • Pick a departure airport, since your nearest may not be the cheapest origin.
  • Shift your departure to evening to save up to £48 on a return flight. Evening flights to Shanghai average £635 compared to £683 for midday flights.
  • Bag allowances vary by airline, fare type, cabin class, and route. On flights to Shanghai, some airlines may include bags at no extra cost. For example, China Eastern includes a cabin bag and a checked bag in Economy class, Air China includes a cabin bag and a checked bag in Economy class, and Juneyao Airlines includes a cabin bag and a checked bag in Economy class. Always check the fare details before booking, since bag policies can change by ticket type.
  • Once you arrive in Shanghai, a few great places to start are People's Square, Shanghai Disneyland, and Yu Yuan Garden. These are popular with first-time visitors and can give you a good feel for the area.
  • Shanghai Pudong Airport (PDG) is one of the busiest airports in the world and the busiest international gateway into China. However, it’s very well-organised. There is plenty of signage in English and staff to help you find your way.
  • When you reach passport control at Arrivals, make sure you’re in the line for foreigners and not the line for Chinese citizens. They are both dealt with separately and you’ll lose a lot of time if you’re in the wrong line.
  • There are two terminals at Shanghai Pudong. A free shuttle bus operates between them during the hours of 06:00 and 24:00, leaving every 10min. Outside these hours you'll have to walk between the terminals so give yourself plenty of time.
  • There are plenty of Chinese and international ATMs in the Arrivals Hall at Shanghai Pudong. You’ll find Citibank ATMs just south of the walkway in arrivals. HSBC have their ATMs in this area also and another one beside baggage carousel number 27 in the reclaim area.
  • Full assistance for passengers with mobility issues is available at Shanghai airports. Simply alert your airline at least 48h before departing and they will arrange to have ground assistance staff notified in advance of your flight’s arrival.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines flying to Shanghai

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with to Shanghai? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.3
Hainan AirlinesOverall score based on 71 reviews
7.7Entertainment
8.4Food
8.2Comfort
8.6Boarding
8.9Crew
Airline reviews

Hainan airline provide direct flight from Boston, US to Beijing, China, which is very convenient. The only issue we had was that my infant bought full ticket, however, when he was transferring from international to national flight (Beijing -> Shanghai), we were informed that the infant didn't even have a ticket. It probably became an issue because he was not allowed to have a seat within China. Hope this issue will not happen again. Otherwise, we like this airline, the services, food, timing are all perfect for a lengthy international trip.

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Aug 2026
Read more Hainan Airlines reviews

Hainan airline provide direct flight from Boston, US to Beijing, China, which is very convenient. The only issue we had was that my infant bought full ticket, however, when he was transferring from international to national flight (Beijing -> Shanghai), we were informed that the infant didn't even have a ticket. It probably became an issue because he was not allowed to have a seat within China. Hope this issue will not happen again. Otherwise, we like this airline, the services, food, timing are all perfect for a lengthy international trip.

Best domestic flight I’ve been on for a very long time. Way better than any of the Australian carriers for domestic flights!!

The seats and service exceeded expectation for the price I paid for.

My first time flying Hainan Airlines. Boarding process was easy and quick. Staff was friendly and helpful. Food was a simple, hot meal which we don’t see much any more on short flights in the US. Only water, coffee or tea to drink but it was only a two hour flight. Overall pleasing experience.

The absolute worst experience I’ve ever had flying. I am a regular flyer and was transferring from Seoul to Beijing to the USA. I was told the companies were partnered so no need to pick up my baggage, I got through eventually after a terribly confusing airport and unhelpful staff, had issues with the check in counter where they didn’t understand my baggage tag from the previous airline and that my bag needed transferring (which as a company partnership they should have communication like this) and then I got through extremely stressful security with multiple stops and the plane was poor quality (same exact quality as my 1.5 hour flight there) for a 16 hour flight with poor food quality, slow trash service, and less than 15 movies total for flight options I was absolutely over it. My only good thing was I was lucky enough to be sitting by myself in a row

Great although I believe they are able to redistuibute the passangers in a more comfortable way if the flight is not full dor such long flights. Unless the seats are paid for, of coruse.

Good flight, on time. The aircraft was old and the seats lost their shapes. Food was just acceptable.

Hainan Airlines was amongst the best. It's sad to see her becoming just mediocre. I recommended her as outstanding. I won't recommend her again.

They asked how much cash i have . I said no cash they said bring cash from atm . Why they even care about my cash.

Flight was scheduled to depart at 1210 hrs. It was delayed 1 hour 20 minutes (maybe for air traffic control reasons). The seats were worn out and very uncomfortable. Lunch was typical for airline. Flight free were friendly.

It we as a pleasant flight. Good helpful and happy cabin crew. Food was okay, not to write home about. Drinks good. Entertainment okay.. Seat space good , comfort acceptable

Weren’t even given earphones to use the entertainment system

Overall, excellent: check-in, boarding, service, and food. The Business Class seating is a little less private and spacious than the world's premier airlines, but still very good for a long haul flight.

It's terrible that we can't do online check in because we didn't buy the tickets directly from Air china. It was not explained until I contacted Chatdeal and we could not sit together.

Food and service are good. Bathroom was lack of lotions and cleaning. That should be improved.

Food & service very good next I will pick up again

Everything was not satisfactory - the flight was delayed, staffs were ok but they didn't speak English well. I am from east Asia (not Chinese) and they didn't care enough to remember that I wasn't Chinese but persistently spoke chinese to me. The flight announcement in english wasn't clear to understand.

I wish I had been able to choose a vegetarian meal. Crew friendly and helpful. Seat was ok. All quite efficient and pleasant. Would recommend for inner China travel for sure.

The flight is not bad, but the Business Lounge is not big enough for the quantity of people they accept and there is a limited options for food and beverages.

It was simply bad and on top of that my luggage hasn't been delivered until now. They can't even localize it which is just unacceptable when they are supposed to scan the bar code they put when we check in

Excellent service from the staff always!!!! Very professional staff! Thanks for the hot tea that I needed throughout the flight I had a problem with my entertainment screen, the movie kept restarting. Overall, a great flight and I would fly China Southern again ! Great Job 👏

We were taking the flight MU 8649 from Shanghai to Osaka and the original boarding gate was 20 and we didn’t receive any notification or broadcast about gate changes, and by the time we missed the original boarding time we check thr electric board and realized the gate was changed to 208 Also the flight was delayed by almost an hour and the crew member didn’t provide any explanation, after we finally boarded the aircraft was very hot, the crew member told me the air conditioning was not working and tried to calm passages down by offering iced water, all of us sat in the aircraft for another 40 mins before it finally took off

Seats not comfortable. We had requested vegan meal and it wasn’t given.

I was denied boarding at the Brisbane airport and it seems like I won’t get any refunds from the airline

Wow very impressed by the quality and attentiveness of service of China Southern. Lived the blankets! Will definitely fly with them again. Despite language barriers, a few attendants know enough English to understand our rudimentary Mandarin and respond to basic questions. Although they don’t explain the beverage and meal service on the website or ticketing documents, they offered regular beverage cart and snacks during the beginning hours and end hours of the long, transoceanic flight. A full meal at the beginning and end of the flight as well, and a midflight small sandwich (dinner roll sized) but we weren’t hungry and didn’t try that one. The expectation is that every sleeps during the middle of the flight. We were on a “redeye” departure from LAX with a morning arrival in China, so I don’t know if this service pattern is the same for other flights. The domestic flight we took from Guangzhou to Harbin offered conventional refreshments and meals like a US flight service. Note that they didn’t offer diet sodas. If you like to stay hydrated, I recommend bringing plenty of your own. It is served in small cups like any other drink. You can ask for a bottle but they’re tiny - about 6 ounces.

China Southern was not the problem. I booked my flight through Kayak and also received a booking reference and alert details regarding departure time and gate numbers… however Kayak NEVER actually booked my flight! We were stranded at the airport without a flight for a long awaited holiday!

Terrible boarding experience,,food is very poor that I I . Never going book this airline again.

The crew were kind, patient and responsive. The service was excellent, even though we travelled the cheapest economy class. We arrived at our destination 40 min early, which for a 15+ hour flight is a great bonus. The boarding seemed a bit "loose", but got us boarded on time, and the plane was off exactly @ 0:30 hrs.

The airport didn‘t give me the ticket. I called customer service to ask for a refund but they kept giving me a perfunctory response and refused to refund me.

The flight was okay it was the kayak customer service that was poor, I have been trying to change my name on my flight ticket 3 days before my flight and nothing got done about it even tho I messaged so many times and phoned, all I got in return was that is was being processed and still to this day nothing has been done about it, I think it’s disgusting and un needed stress to the trip.

Basic long haul decent price but U pay for what you get. Over 5hrs of transit and terminal was pretty bare with nothing much to do except the lounge

Business Class window seat on my Shanghai to Venice route was broken and could not be converted into a bed which has to switch to a narrow aisle seat instead

It was just fine. The sirlines did live up fully to my expectation.

While boarding at PVG, there was a ticket checking by the gate, then there was another ticket checking right at the bottom of the escalator, which created quite a dangerous congestion. Don't understand why the duplication?

I was traveling alone with an infant, so the crew was incredibly helpful. Both the international and subsequent domestic flights were impeccable.

The flight was delayed by 2 hours, although to their credit they delayed my connecting flight so people could reach it. Also their site is a nightmare to navigate on a phone. Everything else was good.

China Eastern as a member of Sky Alliance airlines should have the same standards overall of their partners, Besides the seats comforts everything else is bellow the standard for a business class travelers.

Better good than most, if not all European airlines. If you’re stuck in an economy seat anyways, China Eastern is a good choice because of shorter flight time, being able to overfly Russia

Great staff and food. Seats pretty uncomfortable but plenty of legroom. Entertainment system outdated.

Flight was fine, however we were not able to check in online, this adds to travel stress. Luckily check-in at Heathrow was quick, but we did not get the seats we paid extra for. We paid for a window and 2 aisle seats from Shanghai to Tokyo leg, but they changed us to middle seats. Not good :(

Cabin crew was very good. No wifi and no doors to the suites

Very timly. Great service !!! Pick up after meals can be swifter.

Straightforward boarding process. Pilot kept us informed during the flight, especially highlighting the fact that we would experience "significant braking" when we landed on the short runway in Florence. The flight attendants were pleasant. My chief complaint is that I was stuffed into a seat in the rear of the aircraft (row 29?). The seat pitch was soooo tight that my knees were hard against the seat in front of me as soon as I sat down. One inch more room would have made a difference. Thankfully it was not a super long flight, but it was quite uncomfortable and I had to work out the kinks in my knees once I deplaned. Is it really necessary to have the rows this close together??

Would not let me board with my fragile guitar so had to check it in. Who knows what the icicles did to it. Not happy. Had to run to catch my connection in Heathrow. After a bus and a train? Was asked by a guy in the middle seat to change my window seat with his girlfriend's middle seat further up in the plane and I was insulted. What nerve! The food was unhealthy and the seat was cramped. Could not wait to exit.

need more US friendly food options. Directions on getting to the next gate were terrible - resulted in long walks to the terminal and then finding I couldn;t enter there and had long walk back, then train to security then train back to where I started in the first place

We never made this flight due to the flight from Barcelona being delayed, which I have reviewed in a separate review. But I can tell you that the Delta Airlines flight that did get us home, I am extremely happy with them and their crew. The only one person that I would praise within the entire part of BA is the girl I spoke to in the call center in India. Who completely understood, was dedicated to a resolution and was a complete realist in the situation. Unlike some of the people who don’t care about the human element and stick you on a flight whenever. She got us home.

Wonderful service and comfort. Attentive and careful. The food was also better than US carriers. Highly recommend

Very good baggage check and boarding pass service at Heathrow. Boarding was well organized, given the number of passengers. Food was very good. Cabin temperature was lower than expected and we were not prepared. Overall good experience.

better seats (very uncomfortable), access to wifi was a nightmare, and food was blah.

one meal and one breakfast or sandwich instead of two meals.

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