British Airways flights: Airline suspends all flights to popular holiday destination Abu Dhabi from Heathrow Airport over Boeing engine issues

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British Airways has suspended all its flights to a popular tourist destination from a major UK airport.

The route from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi has been suspended amid engine issues on the airline's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts. The disruption is set to last from March 30 to October 25 next year.

Passengers already booked onto flights over this period will be forced to fly via Dubai or Doha instead - or switch to a flight via London Gatwick. It comes just a few months after BA relaunched flights to the popular UEA capital for the first time since the pandemic four years ago.

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A spokesperson for BA told The Sun: "We're disappointed that we've had to make further changes to our schedule as we continue to experience delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce - particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft. We've taken this action because we do not believe the issue will be solved quickly, and we want to offer our customers the certainty they deserve for their travel plans.

British Airways has suspended all its flights to a popular tourist destination from a major UK airport. (Photo: Getty Images)British Airways has suspended all its flights to a popular tourist destination from a major UK airport. (Photo: Getty Images)
British Airways has suspended all its flights to a popular tourist destination from a major UK airport. (Photo: Getty Images) | Getty Images

"We've apologised to those affected and are able to offer the vast majority a flight the same day with British Airways or one of our partner airlines. We continue to work closely with Rolls-Royce to ensure the company is aware of the impact its issues are having on our schedule and customers, and seek reassurance of a prompt and reliable solution."

Passengers still looking to go to Abu Dhabi directly have the option of rebooking with one of BA's partner airlines - Etihad or Qatar Airways. However, they will only be eligible if the date of the flight is less than 14 days from the booking date.

The airline is also offering full refunds on all cancelled flights. BA first mentioned issues with its 787 fleet in October this year after postponing the relaunch of its route to Kuala Lumpur, which was set to take place in November. The route is now due to reopen on April 1 2025.

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