Cheap flights from London to Nanjing

November is when fares on this route tend to sit at their lowest, and the price calendar on this page shows how the other months compare. Summer and the run-up to Christmas are the expensive stretches, when families and students fill the connecting flights, while late autumn and the quieter weeks after the New Year are easier on the wallet. Fly midweek and skip the Friday and Sunday rush if you can. Book a few months ahead when your dates fall around Chinese New Year, since demand for seats into China jumps then. If your plans are flexible, start with November and work outwards from there.

Every airline on this route is a full-service carrier, so expect a change of planes rather than a budget non-stop. The Chinese side is covered by Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Tianjin Airlines, while Brussels Airlines, Swiss, Austrian and Gulf Air connect through their home hubs in Europe or the Gulf. On a full-service ticket a checked bag is usually part of the fare, but meals and seat selection rules differ from airline to airline, and the long leg is where the comfort gap shows. If your itinerary mixes two carriers on separate tickets, baggage and missed connections are your problem, not theirs.

Nanjing has one airport, Nanking Lukou, and it sits well outside the city, so treat the transfer as part of the journey rather than an afterthought. The metro and airport buses both run into town, taxis wait at the arrivals curb, and ride-hailing works well if you have data on your phone. Because every flight from London involves a connection, you may land late at night or early in the morning, when the metro is not running — check your arrival time before you commit to a transfer. Have your visa and arrival details ready for immigration, and set up a payment method that works in China before you fly.

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 Nanjing

9.3 M (2020)

Time zone

UTC+08 (Asia/Shanghai)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check which London airport your fare leaves from — Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted or London City — and how you will reach it.
• Confirm whether checked baggage is included, since long connecting itineraries often price bags separately.
• Find out if your connection is on one ticket or two; separate tickets mean collecting your bags and checking in again.
• Sort your visa for China, plus a transit visa if you change planes in a country that requires one.
• Compare the month you fly, because November fares undercut the summer and the Christmas peak.
• Add up the full door-to-door time, since every option on this route involves a change of planes.