British Airways has just announced a host of new flights and destinations for winter 2026.
As part of a massive expansion, the airline has added two new destinations to its network: Melbourne in Australia, and Colombo in Sri Lanka, available to book as of March 17, 2026.
Flight will begin to operate from London Heathrow to Melbourne (with a stop in Kuala Lumpur) every day from January 9 2027, departing at 21:10pm, UK time.
Passengers will finally arrive in south-eastern Australia at 6.40am, almost 36 hours later.
For travellers heading to Sri Lanka, flights will operate every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from London Gatwick to Colombo from October 23 2026.
Planes take off at 5.30pm and land at 9am a day later.
BA will be upping the frequency of flights to some destinations too, including to Cape Town (South Africa), Haneda (Tokyo), Bridgetown (Barbados), Kingston (Jamaica) and San Jose (Costa Rica).
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Flights to Abu Dhabi in the UAE will also resume on October 25, after they were suspended due to the ongoing unrest in the Middle East.
According to the carrier, the new schedule reflects a 9% growth in their long-haul route network, offering more choice for customers.
'The Sri Lankan capital is addictive'
Lydia Swinscoe has been to a staggering 120 cities, but Sri Lanka’s Colombo is one of her favourites.
She tells Metro: ‘Beyond the daily traffic crescendos when thousands of children in brilliant white uniforms head home just after lunchtime, the Sri Lankan capital settles into a rhythm that’s addictive to say the least.
‘Made up of 15 divisions, there’s not one I don’t absolutely adore, from leafy Colombo 7, with its wide boulevards, grand old villas, cricket grounds and hidden art spaces like the Sapumal Foundation, to Kompagngna Veediya, which hums with history, street art murals and one of the best cocktail bars in town, Kampong.
‘Add rice and curry eaten with your hands, syrupy milk tea on street corners, and chocolate doughnuts from the bakery tuk-tuk, and Colombo really is heaven.’
For more Colombo tips — and more of Lydia’s favourite cities — read the full article here.
Full list of the new British Airways flights coming to the UK in winter 2026
In addition to the new Melbourne and Sri Lanka routes, British Airline is also making changes to the following routes:
- A daily route from London Gatwick to Bridgetown, Barbados, launches on October, 25. Onward flights to Grenada, Guyana and Tobago will also be available.
- A daily route from London Gatwick to St Lucia’s Hewanorra Airport begins October, 25.
- San José in Costa Rica increases to five flights per week rather than three, and moves to London Heathrow as of October, 25.
- London Heathrow to Haneda in Tokyo, Japan increases to two round trip flights from the end of March, and continues throughout the winter schedule.
- A third daily flight from London Heathrow to Cape Town, South Africa, will start on 13, December.
- Kingston in Jamaica and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, both served from London Gatwick, will go up to four per week (an increase from three each), beginning October, 25.
- To the USA, New Orleans increases to four per week (an increase from three), Baltimore becomes daily (rather than just six per week) and Houston moves to 12 per week (and increase from 11), all starting on October 25.
- Delhi continues to be served three times a day, a growth introduced at the start of the summer season.
How has the conflict in the Middle East affected British Airways new schedule?
BA say that their planned new routes and frequency growth are to ‘meet customer demand, as a result of the situation in the Middle East.’
The airline says that customers are looking for alternative holiday destinations, and therefore seven extra services to Bangkok and Singapore have been added to the schedule.
Currently, British Airways has suspended flights to Amman, Bahrain, Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv.
Flights to Amman, Bahrain, Dubai and Tel Aviv remain cancelled up to and including May 31 2026, while flights to Doha remain cancelled until April 30 2026.
Meanwhile, after announcing that flights to Abu Dhabi will be halted until ‘later this year’, the airline has confirmed they’ll return on October 25 2026.
In a statement released last week on social media, British Airways commented on flight disruptions due to the conflict: ‘We’re keeping the situation under constant review and are in touch with our customers to offer them a range of options,’ the post read.
‘We’re in touch with customers who we believe continue to be in the [United Arab Emirates] to support them and provide options for travel to the UK.
‘We’re asking customers who’ve made alternative arrangements to let us know.’
Elsewhere, the airline warned customers that scammers are impersonating the company and asking for personal information and payment details.
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