BA Drops Jeddah and Slashes Gulf Flights, Here's Where They're Adding

Less than a month after we covered BA's biggest ever route announcement — Melbourne, Colombo, and frequency boosts across 11 routes — there's been another significant round of schedule changes. This time, the story is in two halves.

A bit of geopolitics for you first. A two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect on 8th April, but it's already under strain. Israel says it doesn't cover Lebanon, Iran briefly closed the Strait of Hormuz again within hours, and both sides are accusing each other of violations. The truce expires around 21st April, and if it falls apart, the airspace closures come straight back.

That's the backdrop to BA's schedule changes. And viewed through that lens, what BA is doing looks less like an airline just being cautious about the Gulf and more like one that's decided not to bet on the situation stabilising any time soon.

Rather than committing aircraft back to the Gulf, where the "Big Three" are expected to slash fares to fill their own seats once they're properly operational again, BA is going direct. If the Gulf hubs bounce back quickly, BA is betting that people will pay a premium to fly direct. If the ceasefire collapses and the airspace shuts down again, BA's isn't having to rebuild its route network, again.

The flight times are telling too. The Gulf routes being cut and the India and Africa routes being grown all sit in a similar range of flying hours, which means BA hasn't had to dramatically change its fleet planning. They've just pointed the same planes in a slightly different direction.

It's a hedge, and a smart one. And for those of you using Avios, here's how to make the best of a situation.

The Middle East cuts

Jeddah is gone entirely, with all flights cancelled from 25th April. Dubai won't return until 1st July at the earliest, and when it does, it'll be one daily flight instead of the three BA was running before the conflict. Doha drops from twice a day to one from 1st July. Riyadh comes back from 20th May with four flights a week, building to once a day from July.

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Bengaluru goes double daily from 1st June

BA is adding a second daily flight to Bengaluru, taking the route from one to two flights a day through to late October.

You'll have two departure options from Heathrow, one being a morning flight arriving just after midnight, or an afternoon departure landing around 5:00am. Coming back, there's an early hours departure getting you into Heathrow before 9:00am, or a morning flight landing just after 1:00pm.

What makes this interesting is that BA isn't the only one piling into Bengaluru. As we covered a couple of weeks ago, Virgin Atlantic is also increasing its Bengaluru service to 13 flights a week from the same date. That means from 1st June, there'll be around 27 London to Bengaluru flights a week between the two carriers. Nearly four a day. Both airlines have freed up aircraft by pulling back from the Gulf, and both have landed on the same conclusion: Bengaluru is where that capacity should go, partly down to it being India's tech hub.

For leisure travellers, I would be using Bengaluru as a springboard. If you've read our guide to springboarding, you'll know the idea: use your Avios to fly somewhere close to your final destination in a premium cabin, then book a cheap cash flight for the last leg. Bengaluru is perfectly positioned for the Maldives, so you'd fly Club World using Avios, indulge, sleep flat, arrive fresh, then pick up a short onward flight to Malé. BA does fly direct to the Maldives, but anyone who's tried to book it using Avios knows how quickly those seats vanish. Springboarding through Bengaluru sidesteps the availability problem completely.

BA commits to its already expanded Delhi route

BA added a third daily flight to Delhi earlier this month, and this week's schedule update shows the airline is doubling down. The A350-1000 is arriving on one of the services from 1st June replacing a smaller 777-200.

The third daily flight also returns from September, with larger aircraft across the board. It's a clear sign that BA sees long-term demand on this route, not just a short-term bump from the Gulf disruption, so expect to continue to see good Avios availability.

Nairobi doubles to twice daily

BA is doubling Nairobi from one flight a day to two, running from 1st June right through to 24th October.

You'll have a morning departure from Heathrow arriving around 9:00pm, or an evening departure landing early the next morning. Coming back, there's a morning flight home arriving late afternoon, or a late night departure getting you into Heathrow around 6:15am.

Now Kenya is a destination in its own right, but just like Bengaluru, you could think springboard. A safari in Tanzania is a short hop from Nairobi, or something more beachy such as The Seychelles or Mauritius is a direct flight away. Use your Avios for the long-haul leg in Club Suite on the A350, then book the final connection separately.

Seats are now available for you to use your Avios.

Sam

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