British Airways to Restart Melbourne and Colombo Flights After Years-Long Hiatus

March 18, 2026

British Airways plans to restart flights to Melbourne and Colombo, marking its return to both cities after a long break. This is part of a wider effort to grow its long-haul network.

Flights to Melbourne will start on 9 January 2027, with daily services using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The route will include a stop in Kuala Lumpur, which the airline already serves. Melbourne will become British Airways’ second destination in Australia, following Sydney, which is currently accessed via Singapore. This move brings the airline back to Melbourne after nearly twenty years.

British Airways will also bring back flights to Colombo starting 23 October, with three services each week. The airline previously flew to the Sri Lankan capital in the 2010s but stopped operations in 2015.

These new routes come as the airline aims for a 9% year-on-year rise in long-haul capacity for the winter schedule in 2026. Besides these flights, British Airways is increasing its frequency from London to multiple destinations, including Cape Town, Tokyo Haneda, Bridgetown, New Orleans, Houston, and San Jose in Costa Rica.

Recently, the airline increased capacity on its routes to Bangkok and Singapore due to rising demand, following ongoing disruptions to travel in the Middle East.

Between 10 and 19 March, British Airways added over 3,300 extra seats by introducing seven additional flights to meet passenger needs.

The airline continues to watch travel trends closely and will adjust its network based on customer demand.