British Airways resumes London-Dubai flights after eight-month halt

British Airways returned to Dubai on 3 November, ending an eight-month suspension that began when the US-Iran war forced the carrier to pull its Gulf network on 28 February.

The restart is cautious. BA is flying one daily rotation between London Heathrow and Dubai International Airport — a third of its usual three daily flights on the corridor — and does not plan to add a second daily until summer 2027. The airline had originally targeted 25 October for the restart but pushed it back after an internal safety review.

When BA halted the region on 28 February, it left a terse statement on its website: "Safety remains our absolute priority, and we will only operate flights where it is safe to do so."

What is still grounded — and for how long?

The Dubai resumption is one piece of a staggered rebuild across the Gulf and Levant:

• Doha: services resumed 1 September
• Tel Aviv: one daily route reinstated 25 October
• Amman: restart set for 4 November
• Abu Dhabi: suspended until winter 2027-2028, per a 17 September update
• Riyadh: originally due back 3 November, now pushed to 11 January 2027

The Riyadh delay follows a spate of Iran-backed Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia. BA is not alone — Cathay Pacific is among several regional and international carriers that have put Saudi routes on hold.

The Abu Dhabi gap is the sharper commercial cut. BA had only reintroduced that daily route in 2024, after a four-year pause, before the February suspension pulled it again.

Why European carriers are moving slowly

The regulatory backdrop explains the pace. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has renewed its conflict zone advisory for the Gulf, urging airlines to avoid airspace over the waters of the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar until 16 November. Air France is among the international carriers that have extended Middle East cancellations in response.

That advisory leaves European network carriers weighing a structural handicap against local rivals who never fully stopped flying.

The competitive gap

While BA rebuilds one route at a time, Gulf carriers have largely restored their networks. Emirates currently flies to more than 140 destinations worldwide; Etihad serves more than 90.

The asymmetry matters for connecting traffic. Every month BA stays off Dubai, Heathrow-bound passengers through the Gulf hub flow onto Emirates instead, and the corridor's business traffic — normally enough to fill three daily flights — books elsewhere.

A single daily frequency also limits the route's usefulness: it narrows the window for same-day returns and connections, which typically keeps premium demand soft until a second rotation returns.

BA has not published load factors or booking data for the restarted service, so claims of demand strength remain unverified against actual traffic. What is certified by the schedule itself is modest: one flight a day now, two by summer 2027, and a Riyadh slot that hinges on strike activity over Saudi territory easing before 11 January.