British Airways has resumed flying between London and Abu Dhabi, returning to the route after it had ended its services between the two cities during the breakout of the pandemic in 2020. The airline resumed flights from London to Abu Dhabi with the Boeing 787-9.
Returning after a four-year hiatus
According to Flightradar24 data, on its inaugural flight back on the route between London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport (AUH), a British Airways Boeing 787-9 departed LHR at 22:25 (UTC +1). Having spent more than six hours in the sky, the widebody aircraft landed as flight BA73 at AUH at 12:10 (UTC +4) on April 20, 2024.
The flight was operated by a Boeing 787-9, registered as G-ZBKC, which Boeing delivered to the British carrier in October 2015. Nevertheless, the aircraft departed AUH on flight BA72 at 12:28 the following day, landing at the British capital at 17:24.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that before exiting the route in March 2020, British Airways operated its Boeing 777 and 787-9 aircraft between LHR and AUH. Specifically, the 777 was deployed in February and March 2020, while in January 2020, the carrier utilized its 787-9s for six weekly flights from LHR to AUH.
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State-of-the-art facilities
British Airways announced its return to AUH in October 2023 when the airline issued a statement that beginning April 20, 2024, it would operate daily flights on the itinerary following a four-year pause. At the time, the airline introduced promotional fares on the route that lasted until November 12, 2023.
Photo: Abu Dhabi Airports
Neil Chernoff, Director of Network and Alliances at British Airways, said that Abu Dhabi was a unique destination that was making a very welcome return to the airline’s network, with Chernoff adding that the city has everything its customers are looking for in a Middle Eastern trip.
Meanwhile, Maureen Bannerman, the Chief Commercial Officer of AUH, said that the airport was delighted to welcome British Airways to the airport, adding another airline that uses Terminal A as its operational base.
“A luxurious new gateway to Abu Dhabi, Terminal A will open to the public from November 1st, offering state-of-the-art facilities for both passengers and airlines.”
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Competing against the Airbus A380
British Airways and Etihad Airways, the home carrier at AUH, are the only two airlines that operate the route between LHR and AUH. Interestingly, Cirium data showed that Etihad Airways has begun to scale down the number of weekly flights with the Airbus A380 on the route.
Photo: Abdul N Quraishi – Abs | Shutterstock
In January and February, the airline had scheduled as many as 25 weekly flights from LHR to AUH, while in March and April, that was reduced to 21 weekly itineraries. Starting in May, Etihad Airways will have 14 weekly flights with the double-decker from LHR to AUH until the end of the year. However, the AUH-based airline will still operate 28 weekly one-way flights between the pair of airports, replacing the Airbus A380-operated itineraries with Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-10 aircraft, Cirium data showed.
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