British Airways Restarts This 8-Hour Nonstop Route In 2 Months: See Flights Now

Published Aug 20, 2026, 7:00 AM EDT James lives and breathes route development. Educated in Air Transport Management at Loughborough University and Cranfield University, James has a PhD in airline strategy. James was Market Opportunity Analyst at London Luton Airport and Chief Analyst at anna.aero. He taught airline strategy and economics to undergraduate and postgraduate students for five years and has worked closely with multiple carriers on route and market intelligence projects. He is based near London, UK. Due to the ongoing war in Iran, British Airways has not operated to Dubai since February 2026. However, the countdown to the oneworld member's return continues. Flights remain scheduled to resume in November ahead of the all-important winter season with the highest demand. Dubai is an enormous market from London. In 2025, more than 2.1 million passengers (nearly 6,000 daily) flew nonstop or indirectly between the various airports serving the UK capital and Dubai International Airport (DXB). They only flew locally, and did not continue on another flight via Dubai or one of London's airports. BA Returns To DXB In Two Months Flightradar24 and Cirium Diio data show that BA last operated from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and DXB on February 27, 2026. The latest information shows that BA plans to return to the massive destination in the Middle East on November 3, which is just over two months away. Unsurprisingly, the airline's plan is very different than before. Last winter, BA flew three times daily to DXB, which is its usual frequency for that season. The war in Iran means that it is now being much more cautious, which will help with loads and yields. In the upcoming winter, the number of departures will be down by 40%, while 55% fewer seats will be available. When flights resume, only a daily operation will exist, with a double daily service being available from November 29. Even more notably, the Airbus A380 will no longer be deployed, which is why the difference between the reduction in flights and seat capacity is so significant. This decision, which might also be influenced by the superjumbo undergoing retrofitting and reconfiguration, makes sense. Notice from the following table that BA107/BA106 will use multiple aircraft types and variants. These were the specific flights on which the A380 was used last winter. With 53% of the departures, both the 235-seat and 272-seat Boeing 777-200ER will be the most deployed equipment. However, it is possible that the higher-premium, 256-seat 777-300ER will also materialize, as it has at times on BA's new service to St. Louis. Frequency LHR To DXB, Local Times DXB To LHR, Local Times Daily BA107: 12:35 PM-11:45 PM (777-200ER, 787-8, 787-9, 787-10)* BA106: 2:15 AM-6:25 AM (777-200ER, 787-8, 787-9, 787-10)*** Daily BA105: 8:40 PM-7:40 AM+1 (787-10)** BA104: 10:00 AM-2:10 PM (787-10)**** * From November 29 *** From November 30 ** From November 3 **** From November 4 Loading map… Drag to explore Where BA's DXB Passengers Traveled In 2025 Credit: Shutterstock DXB is synonymous with passengers connecting elsewhere with Emirates. But, as mentioned earlier, the local market is enormous, with London having 2.1 million passengers last year alone. Of course, many other European markets had high traffic too, albeit nowhere near as high. Given this intriguing mixture, it is worth exploring where BA's passengers traveled. Booking data for 2025 estimate that approximately seven in ten passengers were local; they only flew between LHR and DXB. This is very good to see, as local or point-to-point passengers are higher-yielding than so-called sixth freedom (connecting) traffic, while also costing less to carry. 70% of the route's traffic helps to ensure high yields. This is why, in normal times, three daily flights (with one on the high-premium A380, as shown above) are usually available. In the upcoming winter, 28,000+ seats in first and business class will be bookable. Only about one in four passengers (25%) connected to another flight at LHR. The ten most popular transit markets via the UK's busiest airport were Aberdeen, Glasgow, Manchester, Cork, New York JFK, Belfast City, Dublin, Paris CDG, Luxembourg (which gets brand-new flights from Abu Dhabi this year), and Newcastle. Of course, Emirates already has nonstop flights to six of them. Flying via LHR might have been for lower prices, more choice of time, loyalty points, and so on. The remaining 5% of BA's traffic connected in DXB or transferred at LHR and DXB. BA Is One Of Two Airlines Flying From London To Dubai, But A Third Will Return Next Year In the upcoming winter, 13 to 14 daily services between London and Dubai will exist. BA will have one to two daily services, while Emirates will have 12 daily departures. The Gulf giant's offering comprises six daily flights to LHR (A380), four daily services to London Gatwick Airport (LGW with the A380, A350-900, and 777-300ER), and two daily flights to London Stansted Airport (STN with the 777-300ER). Turkish Airlines also flies to LHR, LGW, and STN, and is now 'supposedly' considering London City, which isn't, of course, something that's possible for Emirates. Usually, Royal Brunei also serves DXB-LHR-DXB. It has done so for years, and was, historically, usually the lower-priced alternative compared to other nonstop options. Due to the war, the carrier continues to fly nonstop between Bandar Seri Begawan and LHR. However, its fifth freedom operation via DXB is scheduled to return in late March 2027. Virgin Atlantic ended its LHR-DXB route earlier this year.