British Airways flights to Dubai are back. On Tuesday evening, BA's flight from London Heathrow took off for Dubai for the first time since late February, when the war with Iran shut down much of the Gulf's airspace and sent airlines scrambling. BA pushed its return back several times over the summer, so plenty of travelers will believe it when they see it on the departures board.
Dubai is only the start. BA's other routes in the region are coming back one at a time, and a few won't return until well into 2027.
Latest Updates
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 9:00 p.m. ET (2 a.m. Wednesday in London): BA's first Dubai flight since February left Heathrow on Tuesday evening. Amman, Jordan, is next, with flights restarting Wednesday. Riyadh, which BA had once planned to restart this week too, is now reportedly set for Jan. 11. We'll update this page as more routes come back.
What's Flying Now
The Dubai flight runs once a day this winter on a Boeing 787-10, one of BA's newer and bigger Dreamliners. It leaves Heathrow in the evening and lands in Dubai early the next morning, with the return flight leaving Dubai mid-morning and getting into London in the afternoon. BA plans to go up to two flights a day next summer.
That's a big step down from where BA was before the war, when Dubai was one of its busiest long-haul routes and the airline at times sent its giant A380 there. More than a million British travelers visit the UAE every year, so the route matters to BA, and starting with a single daily flight is a sign it's testing the waters.
BA's schedule also shows a daily flight to Doha in Qatar, and Amman returns on Wednesday with four flights a week.
When the Rest Come Back
The bigger Gulf cities are taking longer. Here's where BA's other routes in the region stand, based on its latest schedule:
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: reportedly back on Jan. 11, 2027, with one flight a day instead of the two it used to run
- Bahrain: suspended until late March 2027
- Abu Dhabi: suspended until the winter of 2027 to 2028, more than a year away
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: no restart date announced
BA isn't alone in taking it slowly. The Lufthansa Group, which includes SWISS and Eurowings, plans to return to Dubai on Nov. 25. Even the Gulf's own airlines are still canceling some flights inside the region this week, including Etihad's flights from Abu Dhabi to Riyadh and Dammam through Thursday.
Before You Book
The return of BA is good news if you're heading to Dubai from London or connecting there from the US, but the region is still tense. The UK government currently describes the situation in the Middle East as "unpredictable" and says "the risk of sudden escalation is high," even though it no longer warns against travel to Dubai. The US carried out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday night, and the US Embassy in Riyadh warned on Tuesday about Houthi attacks on Saudi airports.
If you're booking a Gulf trip for the coming months, a few things help. Pick a fare you can change for free, because schedules in this region have changed again and again this year. Check your flight a day or two before you leave, since cancellations in the Gulf have often come with little warning. And if you're flying from the US, compare BA through London with the nonstop flights Emirates runs from US cities to Dubai. Prices on many of these routes have stayed high since the war started, with fuel driving higher fares across the industry, so it's worth setting a price alert before you commit.
