Last Updated: 21 Feb 2024
The Latest News On When British Airways Flights Will Return
Reward Flight Finder has received quite a few questions, from its members asking, “When will British Airways flights resume?” After weeks of lockdown, it seems that our merry band of reward flight travel fans can feel all those Avios points burning a hole in their metaphorical pockets.
The truth is that, unlike many other UK-based airlines, British Airways never fully ceased their passenger flight operations. They suspended all flights from London Gatwick Airport and more recently from Leeds Bradford too. But not all BA “speed birds” have had their wings clipped. Notably, some UK regional flights, transatlantic services and routes to the Middle East and Asia are still operating with reasonable frequency.
BA has nonetheless drastically reduced their scheduled departures, with hundreds of flights cancelled, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting raft of global travel restrictions.
Here in the UK, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised against “all but essential international travel” back in March, advice which still applies. Subsequently, the British Government has announced a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period, for all international arrivals, coming into force on June 8th. This rule applies to both UK and overseas citizens, though it excludes arrivals from Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, which are within the “Common Travel Area”.
The new quarantine rules were met with outcry from UK-based airlines and tourism bosses. Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, described them as, “Bonkers”, going on to say, “The more we see European governments roll back on restrictions, we think the UK government will be embarrassed and withdraw its 14-day isolation.”
A spokesperson for Gatwick Airport added to the clamour saying, “We call on the Government for a clear, time-bound exit strategy from quarantine, to be reviewed on a weekly basis. This proposal risks decimating air travel.’
The outcry has prompted the British authorities to stress the new procedures are to be reviewed every three weeks. It is understood that UK officials are actively looking into ways to allow international travel between the UK and lower-risk areas, whilst minimising the risk of a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
The Chief Executive of IAG, BA’s parent company, Willie Walsh, said: “We are planning for a meaningful return to service in July 2020 at the earliest, depending on the easing of lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world. We will adapt our operating procedures to ensure our customers and our people are properly protected in this new environment.”
Travellers with flights booked before July 31st with BA are able to claim a refund on cancellations, which BA Executive Club members can now claim in the form of Avios, awarded at double the equivalent cash purchase amount of points.
At the time of writing, BA has good reward flight availability in July, to destinations including The USA, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Grenada, Hungary, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Spain, Sweden, St Kitts, St Lucia, Switzerland, Thailand, Tobago and UAE.
We anticipate that whilst BA may reduce the number of routes it flies, reward flight availability will actually improve to many destinations. Corporate travel is unlikely to bounce back straight away and BA’s larger jets have significant capacity across World Traveller Plus, Club World and First. British Airways will want to fill as many of these premium seats as possible. So there could soon be some great deals out there for the savvy points flyer.
Sign up for alerts at Rewardflightfinder.com to be among the first to hear about them.