British Airways curbs 2026 Middle East schedule

LONDON - British Airways will curb its flight schedule to key Middle East destinations for the remainder of 2026 - even as airspaces in the region reopen amid a ceasefire between the United States an Iran. The airline will redirect freed up widebody capacity to routes into India and Kenya.

British Airways suspended key Middle East flights amid the Iran war through June. Even with the prospect of a peace deal, British Airways does not expect demand to recover quickly.

British Airways now plans to resume its service to Saudi capital Riyadh by mid-May with one flight per day, while keeping Jeddah suspended. Flights to Dubai, Doha and Tel Aviv will restart 1 July at curbed frequencies of one daily service. Before the war, British Airways offered three daily flights to Dubai and two Doha roundtrips. 

British Airways Flights to Bahrain and Amman will not be resumed before 25 October. 

These "further changes" to the flying schedule will provide passenger "greater clarity", British Airways said. The airline will keep the situation under "constant review" to "introduce further flying where possible." For the time being, British Airways will utilize freed up widebody capacity to operate additional services into India and Kenya.