After a two-year hiatus owing to the pandemic, British Airways will resume service between Sydney and London in March.
The announcement comes only days after the Australian government declared that it would reopen to fully vaccinated tourists and visa holders on February 21.
It will be the first time since March 2020 that the country’s foreign border restrictions have been completely lifted.
The first aircraft, BA15, is scheduled to arrive in Sydney at 6:10 a.m. local time on March 29 after departing from London Heathrow at 9:25 p.m. on March 27.
The return flight, BA16, will depart Sydney at 3:50 p.m. on March 29 and arrive at London Heathrow at 5:10 a.m. on March 30.
This itinerary will operate five times weekly between London Heathrow, Singapore, and Sydney, according to ch-aviation data, and will rise to a daily service on April 1st.
According to the timetable, all services will be operated on a Boeing 787-9 or a Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft.
“We can’t wait to welcome our customers back on board our Sydney to London flights and we will be honoured to play our part in reuniting families and friends with their loved ones after such a long time apart,” said Noella Ferns, British Airways head of sales, Asia-Pacific.
“The safety of our customers and colleagues has always been at the heart of everything we do. We know some customers won’t have flown for a long time, and we can assure them we have a range of COVID-19 measures in place to provide stress and hassle-free travel.”
While British Airways is bringing back one of its most popular routes in Australia, Qantas is still debating whether it will be able to resume its popular Perth-London route anytime soon.
Last week, CEO Alan Joyce stated that the Perth to London route was set to reopen early this year, but that this is now uncertain due to Premier Mark McGowan’s decision to keep the borders closed until further notice.
Western Australia has implemented a plethora of new COVID-19 protocols, including reducing the quarantine period for foreign and interstate visitors to seven days and increasing the number of arrivals cap.
