British Airways has announced plans to resume its suspended services to key Middle Eastern destinations, albeit with a significantly reduced flight schedule. The airline will restart operations to Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, in mid-May, followed by services to Dubai, Doha, and Tel Aviv on 1 July.
Reduced Middle East Operations
The carrier is implementing substantial cuts to its Middle Eastern network as it returns to these markets. Daily flights to Dubai will be reduced from three to just one, while services to Doha, Tel Aviv, and Riyadh will be halved from two daily flights to one. Additionally, British Airways will permanently drop Jeddah as a destination from 24 April, and flights to Bahrain and Amman remain paused until at least 25 October.
Strategic Reallocation of Aircraft
With the reduced Middle Eastern schedule, British Airways is reallocating aircraft to bolster its presence in other key markets. The airline will deploy larger aircraft on its Delhi route starting 1 June and will do the same for its Hyderabad service. Throughout the summer until late October, additional daily flights will be added to Bengaluru in India and Nairobi, Kenya's capital.
"Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, we have made further changes to our flying schedule to provide greater clarity for our customers," a British Airways spokesperson stated. "We're keeping the situation under constant review and are directly in touch with affected customers to offer them a range of options."
Expanded Indian Network
In addition to the enhanced services already mentioned, British Airways will introduce extra flights to both Delhi and Mumbai over the summer months. These new routing decisions, which were first reported by the Financial Times, represent a strategic shift toward increasing capacity on profitable long-haul routes to the Indian subcontinent.
The airline has emphasized its commitment to customer service during the ongoing Middle East crisis, noting that it has helped thousands of passengers return home, operated relief flights, and added capacity on key long-haul routes since the conflict began. "We will continue to assess and introduce further flying where possible," the airline confirmed.
Other route adjustments include the resumption of flights to Larnaca in Cyprus on 22 May, providing additional connectivity options for travelers in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
