British Airways will be gradually resuming its flight routes to the Middle East during the last months of 2026 but has announced its services to Abu Dhabi are not expected to return before the end of 2027.
Since 28 February 2026, air traffic across the Middle East has been heavily disrupted. During the first few months after the initial US-Israel attack on Iran, many of the airspaces in the region were closed more often than not. Yet even once the shutdown was over, the aviation industry encountered numerous hurdles on the way to recovery.
While at the time of writing, airports across the Gulf are accepting arrivals and departures again, international carriers are slow to return. Local airlines have been rebuilding their schedules for a while but travellers relying on Asian, European, and North American operators thus need to be patient.
British Airways is one of the international airlines that are cautiously planning a return to the Middle East. While flight routes were initially scheduled to resume one 1 fully 2026, that deadline has been pushed several times. The first connection to be reinstated was the route to Doha, which opened again on 2 September 2026 and offers one daily flight.
The next flight route set to resume is the one to Tel Aviv. As of 25 October 2026, the airline is planning to reinstate a daily flight from London.
The Middle East is once again at the top of Flightradar24's most-tracked list as aviation activity draws attention following new attacks in and around Iran. pic.twitter.com/pITzxaisif
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 1, 2026
British Airways is planning its return to Riyadh and Dubai on 3 November 2026, with one flight per day for both destinations in a first stage. During the summer of 2027, the number of daily flights to Dubai should increase to two.
Starting from 4 November 2026, British Airways should be organising four weekly flights to Amman.
However, British Airways will not be flying to two destinations in the Middle East before 2027. Flights to Bahrain should resume around the end of March 2027, while direct flights from London to Abu Dhabi aren’t expected to resume until the winter of 2027. In a statement to Metro UK, the airline blamed the late date on the conflict in the Middle East and ‘airspace instability’.
Travellers who wish to fly from London to Abu Dhabi before then have multiple options. Etihad is offering a direct connection from London Heathrow. Meanwhile, British Airways enthusiasts can catch a flight to Doha, from where a Qatar Airways connection will be able to bring them to Abu Dhabi – a voyage which takes approximately 11 hours in total.
Although the situation has calmed down since February, the airspace remains high risk. Israeli airstrikes in Syria remain likely and several countries still prohibit or strongly discourage their operators from entering the region’s skies.
Prospective flyers can check safeairspace.net for more info. British Airways customers who have booked a ticket to or from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Tel Aviv, and Riyadh up to and including 31 October 2026 can request a full refund. This also applies to flights which are still set to operate.
