Shifts in travel sentiment around the Middle East have prompted one of the world’s major airlines to make a change in scheduling that goes beyond temporary security measures and oil shortages.
British Airways (BA) has announced it will stop flying from London Heathrow to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from 24 April 2026, in a permanent cut to its services. Flights to Amman and Bahrain will not recommence at all until the autumn. Further slashes will see the airline’s twice-daily route to Riyadh reduced to one service per day from mid-May, and summer Dubai routes downgraded from three daily connections to one. Similarly, there will be only one daily departure each to Doha and Tel Aviv, instead of two.
British Airways reduces Middle East flying, and redirects some the capacity to India. pic.twitter.com/sZEyBcU6Ak
— NextFly (@nextflyapp) April 10, 2026
The carrier has defended the scheduling decisions, with a spokesperson pointing out that “Since the disruption began, we’ve helped thousands of customers return home, operated relief flights, and added additional capacity on key long‑haul routes. We will continue to assess and introduce further flying where possible.”
Long-haul routes that have benefited from the pivot include popular Indian destinations. Bengaluru will receive double the seat capacity from 1 June through 24 October, and bigger aircraft will operate the route to Hyderabad. Mumbai is set to get one extra flight per day for 19 days at the start of June, while Delhi will get three extra flights a week from mid-July to the third week in August.
Nairobi in Kenya is also set to be served by double the BA flights that were previously timetabled between 1 June and 24 October. And flights to Cyprus, ever popular with UK holidaymakers, are due to recommence on 22 May.
The schedule changes reflect not only shifts in customer sentiment but BA’s willingness to step in where other airlines can no longer satisfy demand, or where Middle East hubs are struggling to offer connections. Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways are currently hobbled by the situation in the Middle East, where their home hubs (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha, respectively) have been under closed airspace and Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) travel warnings since the start of the Israeli-US war on Iran and ongoing hostilities affecting the Middle East.
While BA says it will “continue to assess and introduce further flying where possible,” senior aviation sector figures have warned that Europe is running out of oil supplies faster than it can recover them, even if shipping routes through the Middle East’s Strait of Hormuz remain open under a ceasefire. In such uncertain times, scrutiny is likely to extend beyond customer sentiment to airlines’ fuel‑hedging strategies.
