I remember reading a rumour (possibly even on here) that the Chengdu government were paying 50,000 per flight. I have no idea about airline finances so don't know if that is reasonable or ridiculous if it is true.

The BA line seems to be that they are 'getting in there' first but I'm sure they wouldn't be openly admitting the route was funded by the Chinese Government.

I was told they do carry quite a lot of cargo from Foxconn (Apple) but I have no idea how lucrative this would be.