Updated ,first published
As war ties up airports in the Middle East, British Airways has announced a new route to Australia, launching daily flights between London and Melbourne early next year.
Britain’s flag carrier will operate daily services from Melbourne to London via Kuala Lumpur from January, deploying a four-class Boeing Dreamliner 787-9.
“We have a long history of connecting Britain and Australia, and we’re excited to be returning to this great city,” said British Airways’ Chief Planning and Strategy Officer Neil Chernoff.
British Airways already has a daily service to Sydney. The additional daily flights to and from Melbourne will increase capacity from Australia to the UK with a connection in South-East Asia. British Airways last served Melbourne in March 2006.
The route opening comes as conflict in the Middle East disrupts the transit of passengers between Australasia and Europe. The war, which has seen airports hit by Iranian drones, has forced travellers to book on routes that avoid the region — and its uncertainty — altogether.
The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority temporarily closed the country’s airspace on Tuesday as an “exceptional precautionary measure”.
BA’s expanded services to Australia will start at the same time that Qantas’ Project Sunrise – direct flights from Sydney to London – is expected to begin. The move pairs the two national carriers – Qantas and British – in the business of end-to-end connections between the UK and Australia, flying routes that let them sidestep the Middle East.
The BA route planning began before the Middle East war began on February 28. It’s understood BA could not send a representative to the media conference in Melbourne partly due to Mideast-related travel disruptions.
British Airways will offer four classes aboard the planes – first, business class, premium economy, and economy cabins – on flights that start on January 11. Sales for the tickets start on Tuesday night with fares starting at $1960 round trip Melbourne-to-London.
“We are thrilled to welcome British Airways back to Melbourne Airport and we’re incredibly excited about what this extra choice means for travellers and exporters,” said Melbourne Airport chief executive officer Lorie Argus.
British Airways joins Finnair and Turkish Airways as European airlines serving Victoria. Argus said: “With the largest choice of airlines flying to the UK and Europe, 24-hour operations and the shortest minimum connection time of any Australian airport, Melbourne Airport is now the clear choice for Europeans heading to Australia or Australians looking to travel abroad.”
From January 9, 2027, flight BA33 will depart London Heathrow daily at 9.10pm, arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 6.05pm the following day and then into Melbourne at 6.40am the day after.
The return flight BA34 will depart Melbourne Airport at 4.35pm on January 11, arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 21.35pm and then into London Heathrow at 5.20am the next morning.
British Airways said that in addition to its new route to Melbourne, and to Colombo, beginning October, it has also introduced seven extra return services from London to Bangkok and Singapore over recent weeks “to meet rising demand for these routes as a result of the situation in the Middle East”.
The airline has cut flights to the Middle East destinations Amman, Bahrain, Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv.
Industry veteran Neil Hansford said the war in the Middle East shows how airlines are finding alternate routes around the region.
He also pointed to the high load factors Qantas is currently enjoying on its routes avoiding the Middle East. In the current scenario, “Qantas will hold all the aces,” Hansford said.
“Events of last few weeks put a solid floor under [Project] Sunrise.”
Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts on email or turn on notifications in the app.
Chris Zappone is a senior reporter covering aviation and business. He is former digital foreign editor.Connect via X, Facebook or email.