British Airways has announced it is boosting flights to popular long-haul destinations from London ahead of next summer, keeping true to its promise to continue flying directly to Bahrain after overturning a bizarre decision to drop the kingdom from its schedule.
The airline’s rethink, announced last year by delighted bosses at Bahrain Airport Company, the operator of Bahrain International Airport, followed a successful GDN Media petition and community campaign that attracted the support of thousands of people.
Yesterday, British Airways announced that it will offer a daily service from Heathrow to Bahrain, more than doubling the number of times it flies there per week, offering business and leisure travellers much more choice with dates when booking.
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For travellers looking to explore the rich history of neighbouring Saudi Arabia, customers can travel across even more flights, with Jeddah transitioning to five flights per week and Riyadh upgrading to 14 per week services, improving connectivity between Saudi Arabia and London.
British Airways will also now fly to Doha 14 times per week, offering greater flexibility and convenience for travel to and from Qatar.
British Airways’ Chief Planning and Strategy Officer, Neil Chernoff, said: “We’re delighted to expand our long-haul network from London Heathrow and Gatwick next summer, adding more services to some of our most-loved destinations.
“Whether customers are travelling for business, leisure, or visiting loved ones, we hope they take advantage of these additional flights, which offer greater choice and convenience, making it easier than ever to connect with their favourite destinations around the world.”
The relationship between Bahrain and the UK is long and strong. It stands in testament to Bahrain’s key role in aviation history – the gateway to the first passenger flights in the region, and making aviation history as a Concorde destination.
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News circulated online and in the UK national Press, as highlighted in the GDN, that BA would ‘indefinitely axe all flights to Bahrain’ from early next year because of continuing problems with Rolls-Royce engines that power the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.
As reported exclusively in the GDN, top-level diplomatic talks took place at the highest level between Bahrain officials and BA management. Sean Doyle, chairman and CEO of BA, was convinced of the route’s importance, popularity and sound business strength for his company, as well as to the UK and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
As a private entity, it is now part of a collection of airlines and non-airline businesses, all operating under parent company International Airlines Group (IAG), a British-Spanish multinational airline holding company with its registered office in Madrid, Spain, and its corporate headquarters in London.
As the UK’s national flag carrier, British Airways serves more than 200 destinations across more than 65 countries, including routes with its partner airlines. The airline is particularly popular with US servicemen, based in Bahrain, for connecting flights home, via London.
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