Cheap flights from London to Kunming

November is the cheapest month on this route, and the quieter weeks of late autumn and early winter around it usually hold low fares too. September and October still carry late-summer demand, while December and January tighten around Christmas and the Lunar New Year rush, when seats to China go quickly. Spring brings another push from UK school breaks. Midweek departures, Tuesday and Wednesday in particular, tend to undercut weekend ones, and booking a few months ahead matters more when you are connecting. March and May sit in the middle: neither the cheapest nor the busiest.

No airline flies London to Kunming non-stop, so every fare here comes with at least one connection, and the carrier you choose decides where you change and what is included. AirAsiaX is the low-cost name in the mix, with the tighter baggage rules that go with it. Tianjin Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines and Xiamen Airlines are the Chinese carriers on the route, while Swiss, Finnair, Brussels Airlines and Luxair come from Europe. On a full-service ticket a checked bag and meals are usually part of the fare; on a low-cost connection you pay for luggage and food separately. Check whether your legs sit on one ticket or two before you book.

Kunming has one airport, so there is no chance of landing at the wrong one, but it sits outside the city and you will need a transfer into town. Metro, airport shuttle buses and taxis all run from the terminal, and the metro is the simplest way to sidestep traffic. If you land late, check that your onward transport still runs before you leave the hall. Coming in from London you clear immigration and customs here, so leave room after a long connection. Ask at the airport about the ride to your hotel rather than guessing, and keep a little local currency handy for the trip in.

Currency

CNY (¥)

Power sockets

Type A, C, I · 220 V

Language

Putonghua

Emergency number

110, 119, 120

Driving side

right

Calling code

+86

Internet domain

.cn, .中国

Population of Kunming

8.5 M (2020)

Altitude

1,892 m · high altitude — take the first day slowly

Time zone

UTC+08 (Asia/Shanghai)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check which London airport your flight leaves from, since Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London City serve different carriers and connections.
• See whether your connection is on one ticket or two, because separate tickets leave you carrying the delay risk.
• Read the baggage rules on the low-cost legs, where a checked bag is charged separately.
• Confirm your visa and passport validity for China before you pay.
• Book early for Lunar New Year and December travel, when seats to Kunming go first.
• Compare November with the months either side, since that is when fares drop.