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London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is very comfortably the world’s number one airport for long-haul flights. For the rest of 2026, OAG data shows that it has an average of 239 daily long-haul departures. With a third of them (80 daily), 
British Airways obviously plays an important role.
BA has ceased three long-haul routes from LHR in 2026. Of course, the 
oneworld member also has such operations from 
London Gatwick Airport (LGW). However, routes no longer served from the UK’s second-busiest airport will be exported separately at another time.
BA No Longer Flies From Heathrow To These Middle Eastern Destinations
This article is based on examining BA’s long-haul schedule from LHR for 2025 through August 2026. The list was then compared to what’s planned from October 2026 through next summer. This process shows that the following routes to the Middle East have ended. They build on the cessation of Kuwait flights in March 2025 after 60+ years.
Bahrain is not listed below. That’s because flights have been suspended since the war in Iran broke out in February 2026. While the plan was for service to resume in October 2026, that has been pushed back until March 2027 at the earliest. As such, the route remains suspended and scheduled rather than canceled.
Abu Dhabi, which is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is in a similar, but different, position. Like Bahrain, flights were pushed from October 2026 until next March. However, it was recently disclosed that the resumption will not take place until winter 2027/2028 at the earliest. Thus, it is likely that this route will be postponed for between one and a half and two years.
End Month (January 2025 Until September 2026*) | BA From LHR To… |
|---|---|
March 2026 | Abu Dhabi (see comments above) |
April 2026 | Jeddah (much lower-yielding than Riyadh; see later in the article) |
* Anywhere served before then but which has since been pulled is excluded |
Regular Heathrow Flights To This US Destination No Longer Exist
Since the start of last year, BA has launched and removed service from LHR to 
Orlando International Airport (MCO). Yes, this route had regular flights during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was only because the airline had temporarily pulled out of LGW. They did not exist on a regular basis during non-pandemic times.
BA had a one-off service from LHR to MCO on October 22, 2023, November 24, 2024, and November 1, 2025. This was expected to be it. But for six weeks in 2026, the carrier’s first-ever ‘regular‘ operation existed during ‘normal’ times.
Between July 21 and August 29, timed for UK school holidays, the carrier flew three times weekly using both the Boeing 777-200ER (shown above) and 777-300ER. The additional capacity supplemented BA’s long-standing operation from LGW to MCO during a period with much higher demand. It is currently unknown if the carrier will operate like this from LHR in 2027 too.
Each week, airlines submit schedule changes to platforms like OAG. In the weekend’s update, BA uploaded a one-off service from LHR to MCO for November 2. Using the Airbus A350-1000, BA205 will leave the UK at 8:00 AM and arrive in Florida at 12:35 PM local time. It is bookable in the usual way. Interestingly, no inbound flight is scheduled. The airline has been contacted for comment.
BA From Heathrow To Jeddah
The UK’s largest long-haul operator has a long history of flying to Jeddah. In more recent times, BA flew from LHR to Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) until 2005, when the 747-400 was primarily deployed. Flights resumed in 2009 and existed until the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to stop in 2020. In this period, the 767-300ER, 777-200ER, 787-8, and 787-9 were flown.
BA’s LHR-JED service was then available between winter 2024 and spring 2026, with all three Dreamliner variants (787-8, 787-9, 787-9) used. The problem with JED is not the demand but rather relatively low yields, particularly compared to Riyadh. This is due to having far fewer premium passengers. It is no surprise that BA still serves Riyadh, with two daily flights due to return next summer (787-8 and 787-9).
When that happens, the capital of Saudi Arabia will have five daily flights from LHR, with BA coexisting with Riyadh Air (daily 787-9) and Saudia (two daily 777-300ER). In contrast, LHR-JED will have a daily to twice-daily operation (Saudia 787-9 and 787-10). LGW has not had flights to Riyadh since 2014, and service no longer exists to JED. Saudia pulled out in March 2026, followed by Wizz Air four months later.
