British Airways is indefinitely axing all flights to two popular destinations in the Middle East from early next year because of continuing problems with Rolls-Royce engines that power the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.
By the end of March 2025, British Airways plans to suspend all flights to Bahrain and Kuwait – destinations that it has served for nearly 92 years and 63 years, respectively.
The latest route cuts come on top of recent announcements from the beleaguered carrier that it will no longer serve Dallas Fort Worth from the summer of 2025 and will slash the number of flights it operates to Miami.
The airline has already axed non-stop flights from Heathrow to Beijing and halved the number of flights it operates to Hong Kong. British Airways has blamed the closure of Russian airspace for the cuts to its Asian network due to increased operating costs.
Last month, British Airways also announced that it was delaying its much-anticipated return to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, by at least six months.
British Airways was due to operate daily flights to Kuala Lumpur aboard its 787-9 Dreamliner from the start of this month, but the airline has been forced to ground some of these planes while it waits for spare parts to be delivered by Rolls-Royce for its Trent 1000 engines.
With no end in sight to BA’s Rolls-Royce engine woes and ongoing serviceability issues seriously impacting its Airbus A380 superjumbo fleet, the airline now says that it has been forced to cut back its schedule even further.
Following a review, the airline has decided that Bahrain and Kuwait aren’t commercially viable, and cabin crew who have been based in the region for decades will now have the prospect of being made redundant.
Last month, the airline slammed Rolls-Royce for the disruption, saying that it had made the engine manufacturer “aware of the impact its issues are having on our schedule and customers, and seek reassurance of a prompt and reliable solution.”
BA’s chief operations officer, Rene de Groot, initially told staffers that cancellations due to the Rolls-Royce issues were only expected to last for around ten days as the airline made short-notice cancellations on several routes, including Doha.
It now appears, however, that the supply chain issues plaguing Rolls-Royce and British Airways are set to drag on for a lot longer than previously envisioned by de Groot
