UAE-UK travel: British Airways to suspend Abu Dhabi to Heathrow flights amid engine issues

Abu Dhabi: British Airways, the UK’s national carrier, has suspended its London-Abu Dhabi route due to supply chain challenges affecting Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, which power its Boeing 787 fleet.

The airline said on its website that the route between London Heathrow Airport and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport will be paused between March 30 and October 25 during the summer 2025 travel season. The carrier currently serves the destinations daily using 787-9s. The IAG-owned airline only resumed the route in April 2024 after a four-year suspension amid the pandemic.

A BA spokesperson told Reuters, “We’ve taken this action because we do not believe the issue will be solved quickly, and we want to offer our customers the certainty they deserve for their travel plans.” The airline said, “We’ve apologized to those affected and can offer the vast majority a flight the same day with British Airways or one of our partner airlines.”

According to data on BA's website, passengers have been offered full refunds or the option to rebook with BA’s partners, Etihad Airways or Qatar Airways.

The most recent figures show that between January and September 2023, 88,000 UK travellers visited Abu Dhabi, up from 73,000 the previous year.

The airline had already cut long-haul flights this year because of delays in the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce. During the summer of 2025, it pulled daily service from London Heathrow to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. British Airways operations to several GCC destinations have also been impacted. British Airways has cancelled operations to Kuwait International Airport and reduced capacity to Doha, Qatar.

BA backtracked in November on plans to cancel its longstanding route between London Heathrow and Bahrain following discussions with “partners and stakeholders.” Service will instead be maintained next summer and beyond.

The carrier is also set to remove its second daily flight from London Heathrow to Miami, which was announced in September. Moreover, service between London Heathrow and New Delhi will be kept twice daily in summer 2025, rather than three times daily as previously planned, Aviation Week has reported.

BA has also delayed the launch of a new service to Kuala Lumpur and cut flights between London Gatwick Airport and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport from December 12 through March 25.

Will fares to the UK rise?

The launch of BA flights between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow had stabilised UAE-UK airfares since April 2024. During the route launch, a British Airways official said it is hoping to gain a competitive edge over its UAE-based and regional carriers by offering cheaper fares on the London—Abu Dhabi route.

“We have very competitive fares. We're very proud to operate in a very competitive industry, and we operate very competitive fares,” Calum Laming, British Airways' Chief Customer Officer told Gulf News.

London Heathrow is one of the top five destinations for passengers at Zayed International Airport, with 290,000 passengers flying this route in the first quarter of 2024.

The airline had relaunched its daily services in Dubai way back in 2021.