A NEW route from the UK to a European capital city has been scrapped less than one year after it officially launched.
The British Airways route between London Heathrow and Belgrade resumed last October following a 13-year hiatus.
Despite only operating for eight months, the UK flag carrier has chosen to suspend flights between London Heathrow Airport and Belgrade for “commercial reasons”.
British Airways told EX-YU Aviation News: “We regularly review our schedule, and due to commercial reasons, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our flights to Belgrade from September 29, 2024.
“We’re contacting affected customers to apologize and offer them alternative options, including rebooking or a full refund.”
The airline currently operates three weekly service between the two capitals, with flights departing London every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.
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Flights leave London Heathrow Airport at 7:50am before arriving in Belgrade at 11:35am local time.
Return flights then leave the Serbian capital at 12:20pm and land back in the UK at 2:20pm.
Sun Online Travel have found one-way tickets from £86 per person.
Despite only just announcing the route’s suspension, British Airways hasn’t ruled out a possible return.
According to Aviation 24, the airline will be reviewing the possibility of restoring flights between the two cities next summer.
When the route was announced last year, the UK flag carrier was keen to highlight the strategic importance of the service.
A statement about the new route read: “We have taken one of the best slots at Heathrow for this flight, catering for both point-to-point passengers but also transfer passengers, particularly the East Coast of the United States, Canada, and Australia.
“We offer seamless connectivity to these regions, especially New York and Miami, which are very popular out of Belgrade.”
Luckily, British Airways isn’t the only airline operating flights between London Heathrow and Belgrade.
Brits who want to reach the Serbian capital after the end of September will be able to book flights with Wizz Air and Air Serbia.
British Airways isn’t the only airline that’s scrapped newly-announced routes in recent months.
Brand-new flight routes scrapped
Earlier this year, a new route from the UK to Cuba was scrapped just weeks after it was first announced.
The new route was announced at the end of April, with flights set to operate from May 10.
However, the flights between Manchester Airport and Holguin, Cuba, were scrapped.
Meanwhile, Eastern Airways has confirmed that its Cardiff to Paris Orly route was also getting the boot – despite being the only direct flight between Wales and Paris.
Having only launched in April 2023, the airline has scrapped the route ahead of the summer holidays.
New British Airways routes
It’s not all doom and gloom in the travel sector as the UK flag carrier has announced several new UK routes in recent weeks.
British Airways has launched three new flights from London Stansted, meaning the airline now has flights from four London airports.
Flights to Nice, Florence, and Ibiza will be operated by BA CityFlyer on both Saturdays and Sundays – marking the airline’s return to the airport for the first time since before the Covid pandemic.
They include flights to the south of France, a popular Italian city break destination and a Balearic island.
Elsewhere, British Airways also launched a brand-new service to Dublin from London Gatwick, with 12 flights running every week.
The flights will run throughout the summer, offering extra chances to visit the Irish capital this year.
British Airways has also launched some flights from lesser-known airports in the UK.
Other new flight routes launching from the UK
There are plenty of other new routes launching from the UK to destinations Brits might not have considered travelling to before.
These include two other CityFlyer flights from Southampton Airport, with Brits now being able to fly from the airport in Eastleigh to both Bergerac and Majorca this summer.
Meanwhile, TUI is also launching new flights from four UK airports next summer.
