British Airways (BA) has announced a significant expansion of its Asia Pacific network for winter 2026, including new routes to Australia and Sri Lanka.
A new London Heathrow–Melbourne service will launch on 9 January 2027, operating daily via Kuala Lumpur year-round. The timing coincides with major events including the Australian Open and the Melbourne Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, a London Gatwick–Colombo route will commence on 23 October 2026, operating three times weekly during the winter season.
Both routes will offer World Traveller (economy), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and Club World (business class), with First Class available on the Heathrow–Melbourne service.
For the winter 2026 season, the airline will be adding more flights for winter to Cape Town (South Africa), Haneda (Tokyo), Bridgetown (Barbados), Kingston (Jamaica) and San Jose (Costa Rica), which reflects a nine per cent increase in its long-haul route network.
The expansion comes alongside short-term capacity adjustments in response to ongoing Middle East disruptions. British Airways recently added seven additional return services to Bangkok and Singapore, providing more than 3,300 extra seats between 10 and 19 March.
At the same time, the airline has extended flight suspensions to several Middle East destinations. Services to Amman, Bahrain, Dubai and Tel Aviv are cancelled through 31 May, while flights to Doha remain suspended until 30 April.
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