British Airways Announces Major Winter 2026 Expansion

British Airways (BA) is planning a significant expansion to its network for winter 2026. Two new destinations are in the works: Melbourne, Australia, and Colombo, Sri Lanka.  

In an announcement today, BA said it will also add more winter flights to Cape Town, South Africa (CPT); Tokyo Haneda (HND); Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI); Kingston, Jamaica (KIN); and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO). The new schedule reflects a nine percent growth in British Airways’ long-haul route network over the previous year.

Service to Melbourne operates from January 9, 2027, in time for the Australian Open and the Melbourne Grand Prix. Flights will operate year-round from London Heathrow (LHR), via Kuala Lumpur (KUL), on a daily basis.

Launching on October 23, 2026, BA will fly three times per week from London Gatwick to Colombo, Sri Lanka (CMB).  

These changes are in addition to short-term capacity increases to destinations where the airline is seeing customer demand, particularly because of the situation in the Middle East. BA has added seven extra return flights to Bangkok (BKK) and Singapore (SIN) in the last week and will continue to review its schedule and add additional flights to destinations as needed.

Demand for travel continues to remain strong, and as customers look for non-Middle East holiday destinations, British Airways Holidays has seen a rise in searches for destinations like Antigua and Gran Canaria, which have increased by 63% and 50% respectively.

Airline comments

Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ Chief Planning and Strategy Officer, said, “We’re delighted to announce sizeable growth to our flying schedule for winter 2026, including two notable new destinations that I’m confident will prove popular with our customers. We’re also increasing services across several high-demand routes around the world. Together, these changes represent a significant investment in our long-haul leisure network, adding even more options and choice for our customers.

"Elsewhere, we know there is short-term demand as a result of the situation in the Middle East. To support customers with alternative routes from popular destinations, we have already launched additional flights, and we will continue to monitor customer demand and add flights to our schedule if we’re able to do so.”

Frequency growth

In a significant planned expansion to the winter 2026 schedule, the airline is increasing frequencies across several of its popular routes:

• A third daily flight from LHR to CPT will start in December
• LHR to HND increases to double daily from the end of March, and continues throughout the winter schedule
• A daily Barbados (BGI) flight from London Gatwick (LGW) will commence on October 25, a new route that will complement the existing London Heathrow service to the Caribbean island, and will connect to Grenada, Guyana, and Tobago
• There is more dedicated capacity to St Lucia (UVF) in the Caribbean, as daily flights become a standalone service from October 25
• SJO increases to five per week, and moves to LHR
• Kingston in Jamaica (KIN) and Punta Cana (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic, both served from LGW, will go up to four per week
• To the US, New Orleans (MSY) increases to four per week, Baltimore (BWI) becomes daily, and Houston moves to 12 per week
• Delhi (DEL) continues to be served three times a day, as the frequency growth introduced at the start of the summer season remains in place
• LHR to Abu Dhabi (AUH) will return for its planned winter schedule, operating daily from October 25

Short-term capacity

BA has also introduced seven additional return services from London to Bangkok (BKK) and Singapore (SIN) over recent weeks, to meet rising demand as a result of the situation in the Middle East.

Regarding the situation in the Middle East, BA added more than 3,300 extra seats between March 10 and 19 for customers traveling to and from SIN and BKK. The airline continues to monitor its network closely to make adjustments based on where customers want to fly.

BA has also extended the temporary reduction in flights to the region. Flights to Amman, Bahrain (BAH), Dubai (DXB), and Tel Aviv (TLV) are cancelled up to and including May 31, and flights to Doha (DOH) are cancelled until April 30.  

Most searched destinations

British Airways Holidays has seen a boost in interest for holidays to the Caribbean, with Barbados searches on ba.com up 46% and Antigua searches up 63% versus last year. Searches for Indian Ocean holidays have also increased, with the Maldives up 32% and Mauritius up 42% versus last year. Closer to home, holiday searches to the Canary Islands are on the rise, with Tenerife up 38% and Gran Canaria up 50% versus last year.

The airline has also seen similar trends in flight searches, with the Maldives up 74%, Barbados up 18%, and St Lucia up 26%  compared to February 2026. Overall, searches for flights from the UK to the Caribbean, South West Pacific, and South Asia have increased by 40%, and for short-lead travel in the next two weeks, figures are up 155%.

Full list of frequency additions for winter 2026