British Airways has revealed flight routes to a major tourist destination in the UAE will be grounded for nearly 6 months next year. Specifically, direct flights between London Heathrow and Abu Dhabi from March 31 until October 25 next year will be axed.
Passengers already booked on flights that may be affected by this route change may need to leave from Gatwick or have a layover in Dubai or Doha in order to arrive in Abu Dhabi. According to Timeout, passengers will be given the opportunity to rebook flights on Etihad or Qatar Airways, partners of BA, who will still be operating direct flights to the UAE capital according to Timeout.
The Abu Dhabi flight reroutes are the latest in a line of reactionary changes from the airline as they face some mechanical disruptions in their planes. The company is in need of new engines for many of their Boeing 787 aircrafts, which are used for their long-haul flights including those to Abu Dhabi.
Rolls Royce builds these engines but has been enduring some supply chain issues that have resulted in delayed delivery of necessary parts meaning BA has several planes that can’t take flight currently. With a decreased fleet, the carrier is being forced to stretch their operational planes to try to cover the gaps.
Previously, British Airways cancelled direct flights between Gatwick and New York, Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur as well as Heathrow and Doha until March or April. These initial estimates also assume that no further delays or supply chain issues happen in the next four months.
Disruptions to the Abu Dhabi route may be particularly disappointing for some passengers as the direct route only opened this April after a four-year-long hiatus. Those affected by this change should have received some communications from British Airways already with offers to either get them on a different flight with British Airways on the same day or with one of their partner airlines.
A spokesperson for BA told the outlet they’re “disappointed” that they had been forced to make more changes to the 2025 travel schedule: “We’ve taken this action because we do not believe the issue will be solved quickly, and we want to offer our customers the certainty they deserve for their travel plans. We continue to work closely with Rolls-Royce to ensure the company is aware of the impact its issues are having on our schedule and customers, and seek reassurance of a prompt and reliable solution.”