British Airways is making permanent changes to its Middle East flight schedules, cutting its service from London Heathrow to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from Friday 24 April.
Having already scaled back the number of flights operating in the Gulf region, with airspace restricted because of the Iran-US conflict, the airline is said to be pivoting away from the Middle East and looking to expand its offering in India and Kenya instead.
In addition to the removal of its London-Jeddah route, BA will operate at a reduced scale in other popular destinations in the Middle East. For example, the scheduled London-Riyadh flights, which are currently operating twice daily, will be pared back to a single daily flight when services resume in May.
Similarly, BA flights to Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv – all of which are slated to resume on Wednesday 1 July – will return with a significantly reduced schedule. To Dubai, there will be just one flight per day, each way (down from three), and flights to Doha and Tel Aviv will be halved, with BA operating just one flight each way to both destinations.
According to travel expert Simon Calder, British Airways will instead double its flights to Bangalore, India, between Monday 1 June and Saturday 24 October and flights to and from Mumbai, as well as the capital of Delhi, will also be increased over the summer months.
What’s more, BA’s London-Nairobi route will also be increased to two flights per day, from Monday 1 June to Saturday 24 October.
A spokesperson for British Airways told The Independent: “Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, we have made further changes to our flying schedule to provide greater clarity for our customers. We’re keeping the situation under constant review and are directly in touch with affected customers to offer them a range of options. Since the disruption began, we’ve helped thousands of customers return home, operated relief flights, and added additional capacity on key long‑haul routes. We will continue to assess and introduce further flying where possible.”
The news comes after a range of flight cancellations and delays in the region, of which the airline said at the time: “We’ve extended the temporary reduction in our flying schedule in the region. We’re keeping the situation under constant review and are directly in touch with affected customers to offer them a range of options.”
Although US President Donald Trump announced a 2-week ceasefire with Iran on Wednesday, travel chaos continues to plague the aviation industry, with jet fuel shortages and fluctuating oil prices. What this means for air travel is uncertain at this time.
