British Airways is by far the leading long-haul operator from the UK. Between July 2026 and March 2027, the oneworld carrier plans an average of 94 daily departures from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and London Gatwick Airport (LGW).
BA’s long-haul activity will be 5% higher than between July 2025 and March 2026. That is a decent increase for what is a very mature airline, and one that contends with significant slot shortages at LHR. By adjusting its network and playing with frequencies on some existing routes, 6% more long-haul flights are planned from the UK’s busiest airport.
It is important to note that all of these routes have already been announced, and this article simply summarizes what is coming in a handy package. Three routes are from LHR, and three are from LGW. Two will simply switch London airports: LGW flights to San José Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO; Costa Rica) and Tampa International Airport (TPA) will move to LHR. While nothing changes at the city level, both will be brand-new to BA’s network at the airport level.
After a four-year absence, BA will reintroduce flights from LHR to Orlando International Airport (MCO). Relaunching this month, the route will only operate during the UK school holidays. When added to Virgin Atlantic’s LHR-MCO services, the airport pair will have up to three daily departures in July/August 2026, which is the joint-highest number on record.
Last served in 2022. Complements BA’s LGW-MCO operation
The oneworld member last flew to Sri Lanka in 2015. While flights were tagged with Malé, they will now be fully standalone
BA last flew from LGW to Barbados in 2024. When added to LHR-Barbados, the airline will now have up to three daily flights (the most in 30+ years). LGW flights will be extended to various airports in the Caribbean, replacing the role of St. Lucia
Switching from LGW. LGW-TPA has the worst load factor of all of BA’s US routes
BA last flew to Victoria in 2006, when the 747-400 operated via Singapore.
SJO is notable. Switching to LHR means it’ll be the first time the UK’s busiest airport has had scheduled flights to Costa Rica and Central America. Given LHR’s renowned constraints, including the very high fees and charges, this is particularly good to see.
Last year, BA primarily served SJO three times weekly from LGW, albeit on 332-seat so-called ‘LGW-configured’ Boeing 777-200ERs. These are light on premium seats and heavy on economy capacity. From LHR, it’ll have five weekly departures on the 204-seat 787-8, which is the airline’s lowest-capacity widebody. There are 31 Club World suites (they have the latest product), 37 seats in World Traveller Plus, and 136 in World Traveller. 15% of the capacity is business, against less than 10% for LGW’s 332-seat Triple Sevens.
In 2025, the UK Civil Aviation Authority shows that BA transported 34,701 round-trip passengers between LGW and SJO. Relating this data to Cirium Diio shows that it only filled 79.2% of the available seats. When all airlines are considered, BA captured about a third of the London-SJO market (104,000 passengers).
Not surprisingly, LHR was a much larger market than LGW (about 60,000 passengers). The airline aims to achieve a decent price premium for its nonstop service from LHR and very competitive five weekly flights. Given LGW primarily revolves around local traffic, switching to LHR means it’ll also capture many more connecting passengers, which will help improve what was a relatively low load factor.
They include a raft of short-haul and long-haul routes, including some that only operated very briefly. Find out more here!
Colombo is a massive local market from London. 362,000 round-trip passengers traveled last year, which was over 900 people daily. Of course, as it particularly revolves around leisure demand and those visiting friends and relatives, it is not an especially high-yielding market.
Over half of the passengers flew indirectly, many, of course, via Gulf hubs. Given the ongoing war in Iran, confidence in connecting in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, or Dubai International Airport (DXB), or elsewhere, has dropped. If this sentiment continues, BA and SriLankan Airlines should benefit from a greater willingness to fly nonstop.
The pair plan 12 weekly nonstop services from London in the upcoming winter. BA will have three weekly services from LGW on the 332-seat 777-200ER, while SriLankan will operate nine times weekly from LHR using the 297-seat A330-300. Data from Cirium shows that this is the joint-highest-ever number of nonstop flights.
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