British Airways updates Dubai travel advisory and extends options until October 31

Dubai passengers now have refund and rebooking options through October 31

Last updated:
Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor
British Airways updates Dubai travel advisory and extends options until October 31
Shutterstock

Dubai: Dubai passengers booked with British Airways have been given an additional week to cancel or change their travel plans, after the airline extended its Middle East flexibility policy until October 31, 2026.

The airline’s previous update, reported on May 19, covered changes to its summer schedule until October 24. The latest advisory extends refund and rebooking options for eligible passengers travelling to or from Dubai and other regional destinations through October 31.

Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.

Customers can request a full refund even when their flight is still scheduled to operate, while those who want to travel later can change their booking without paying a change fee.

Travel flexibility extended by seven days

British Airways had earlier reduced or suspended several Middle East services for the summer season ending October 24.

Flights between London and Dubai were reduced from three daily services to one, with the airline previously saying the regular daily schedule was expected to resume on August 1 and a second daily service would return from October 16.

The new update does not announce another change to the Dubai flight schedule. It extends the period during which passengers can seek refunds or amend their travel plans by seven days, from October 24 to October 31.

The refund policy covers eligible tickets for travel between February 28 and October 31 to or from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Tel Aviv and Riyadh.

Refund available even when flight is operating

Passengers with eligible bookings can request a full refund even when their service has not been cancelled.

Customers travelling from June 2 can also move their journey to a later date on the same route or rebook on another British Airways route without paying a change fee, although any fare difference will apply.

The change option is available to passengers originally booked to travel up to and including October 31 to or from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Tel Aviv, Jeddah and Riyadh.

British Airways said it was contacting affected customers directly with updated information and available options.

“Your safety is always our highest priority, and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so,” the airline said.

Singapore Airlines cancellations run until October 24

Singapore Airlines has separately confirmed that SQ494 from Singapore to Dubai and SQ495 from Dubai to Singapore will remain cancelled until October 24.

Affected passengers can seek a full refund for the unused portion of their ticket, while customers have been advised to continue checking their flight status because other services may also be affected.

Singapore Airlines updated its advisory at 4pm Singapore time on July 15.

Nivetha Dayanand
Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor
Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

Get Updates on Topics You Choose

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Up Next