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Orlando International Airport (MCO) in Florida is a popular long-haul leisure destination for UK travelers because of its proximity to the area’s theme parks. The majority of the flights there from the UK originate in London, but apart from 18 trips this summer to provide supplementary capacity, 
British Airways (BA) only flies there once a year from 
London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
The UK flag carrier and oneworld founding member retains year-round nonstop flights from London Gatwick (LGW) to Orlando, but the sole Heathrow rotation is a charter for a good cause. Known as ‘Dreamflight,’ this initiative sees BA fly around 200 children with serious illnesses or disabilities for the holiday of a lifetime.
British Airways’ Dreamflight Will Return In November Of This Year
According to Dreamflight, this year’s trip will run from October 24 to November 3, with 192 children aged between eight and 14 years old from 12 regions of the UK going. They will be joined by “12 Group Leaders, 96 guides (comprising 12 doctors, 12 physios, 36 nurses, 36 non-medical guides), [and] 12 camera crew,” giving a total cohort of 312 children and volunteers.
According to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, British Airways plans to deploy its 331-seat Airbus A350-1000 on the trip this year. These modern widebody twinjets have 56 seats apiece in Club World business class and World Traveller Plus premium economy, as well as 219 in World Traveller economy class.
Dreamflight explained how the airline’s crew is involved with the special occasion.
“Cabin crew and flight crew join each annual Dreamflight trip, working the flight outbound and on the return. The crew also then join our groups in Orlando, acting as ‘pool patrol’ for our morning and evening swimming sessions.”
Orlando Is A Popular Destination From London
Although Heathrow flights are rare at MCO, BA is still a frequent visitor, thanks to regular services from its secondary hub at 
London Gatwick Airport (LGW). Its operations here tend to have more of a leisure angle, and, this year, it flew daily from Gatwick to Orlando in the winter and up to twice a day in the summer. It also ran 18 summer rotations from LHR.
As for flights from LGW to Orlando, British Airways’ Boeing 777s face direct competition from Norse Atlantic’s 787-9 Dreamliners. The low-cost long-haul leisure carrier doesn’t serve this route as often, with as few as three flights a week in the winter. However, this frequency gradually rises to daily flights during peak summer months (June to August) before dropping again.
Airlines Offering London-Orlando Flights In 2026 | |
|---|---|
British Airways | Gatwick, Heathrow (short-term) |
Norse Atlantic | Gatwick |
Virgin Atlantic | Heathrow |
Elsewhere, Virgin Atlantic is the only airline that regularly flies from London Heathrow Airport to Orlando International year-round. Its Airbus A350-1000s fly this route daily, with supplementary capacity provided by A330-300s and A330-900neos between March and November. Virgin Atlantic’s presence on this route peaked in November, with 75 departures (up to three a day) across all aircraft types.
A Longstanding Partnership
British Airways has worked with Dreamflight to make ill and disabled children’s dreams come true for almost 40 years. The initiative was referenced in a press release by the 
oneworld founding member back in October 2019, when the flight from London to Orlando was operated by a 777 with a Dreamflight sticker applied to its fuselage. The flight operated as BA9117.
More recently, the 2024 iteration of the trip saw Strictly Come Dancing Head Judge Shirley Ballas greet the children in BA’s hangar at Heathrow Airport before they set off on their flight, along with various characters from the Star Wars franchise. According to BA, the first Dreamflight ran in 1987, and around 7,000 children have since enjoyed such trips, supported by the BA Better World Community Fund.
