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EXCLUSIVE: British Airways cancels return to Kuala Lumpur with four weeks notice

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British Airways was due to restart two routes to Asia this winter – Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Bangkok is going ahead, with flights starting on 28th October.

Kuala Lumpur, which was due to launch on 10th November, seems to have hit the buffers.

EDIT: Whilst a few days old, we are keeping this article pinned to the top of the home page because of the amount of discussion in the comments about BA’s ‘issues’ over rerouting passengers.

British Airways drops Kuala Lumpur flights

Earlier this afternoon the flights were showing as bookable:

British Airways drops Kuala Lumpur flights

…. but five minutes ago it changed to this:

British Airways drops Kuala Lumpur flights

No flights are available until 1st April 2025.

Cancelling a route with less than a months notice is clearly not great news for anyone. However, with oneworld partner Malaysia Airlines offering double-daily flights from Heathrow, it should be possible to get most people on a same-day alternative.

Our 2022 review of the Malaysia Airlines service in business class is here.

Qatar Airways is also likely to be an option due to BA’s joint venture agreement. In fact, it is possible that BA tries to push Qatar Airways as its preferred alternative.

Note that it will take BA a few days to hammer out a formal rebooking arrangement with Malaysian. If you call today you will be offered an indirect alternative.

Why have the flights been pulled?

British Airways told us:

We’re disappointed that we’ve had such 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. 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.

In terms of ‘why KL?’, competition is probably part of it. Malaysia Airlines offers a decent product on the route which also allows flyers to earn Avios and British Airways Executive Club tier points.

BA’s shortage of A380 aircraft is also likely to be a factor. As we have covered, the fleet is proving very unreliable.

Kuala Lumpur was scheduled as a daily service on a Boeing 787-9, which was a heavy commitment in terms of aircraft. Pulling what was always going to be a low yield route is a relatively low cost way of building some resilience in the schedule.

Let’s hope the 1st April 2025 date is firm.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (644)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • David S says:
    11 Oct11 October 19:57

    Same issue here – no real advice given as to options, no alternative flights available at all when using MBB and the call centre isn’t answering calls. How not to run a business!

  • Wis says:
    11 Oct11 October 19:59

    Also have a 241 booking to KL in Feb. Am in no rush so will wait to see what others are offered/commercial policy emerge before making a call to rebook. A quick question if anyone can help – if rebooked onto another carrier (such as MH or QR), do the cancellable/refundable terms of the Avios redemption still apply under the normal Exec Club Ts & Cs? I don’t like to just assume!

    • Mark says:
      11 Oct11 October 22:40

      I think that’s a wise approach. In the meantime it may be worth researching likely options (e.g. Qatar, Malaysian and BA via Singapore or Bangkok) and timings to work out your preferences, so that you can assess the options and get the best outcome. Note also that destination changes may be possible in some limited circumstances (e.g. we’ve already seen reports of people successfully switching to Singapore with BA) so that’s also worth considering.

      They can’t unilaterally vary the terms agreed on the original booking, so should still be cancellable for £35pp but another good reason not to rush is that the booking is now cancellable for free, until you agree a reroute.

      • Wis says:
        12 Oct12 October 09:39

        Thanks, very helpful. Interesting to see the posts on here and other forums about the inconsistent options being given on the phone. I would much prefer QR over MH, so wondering if it’s best to try to call and try before an MH policy is agreed

  • Joel says:
    11 Oct11 October 20:03

    I eventually got through and took a direct flight to SGP instead, given I was going Thailand I wasn’t too fussed about directly going KL, managed to keep WT+ seats as well. I was offered Qatar via Doha but at economy only, decided to stay on SGP.

  • Clare says:
    11 Oct11 October 20:17

    We have recently booked a 241 flight to KL in June 2025. If BA cancels, are they likely to transfer us to another airline while still allowing us to use the 241 voucher?

  • BJ says:
    11 Oct11 October 20:23

    @meta They can probably swap a few 777s over from USA winter schedules.

  • Nick says:
    11 Oct11 October 20:31

    For anyone wanting MH direct flights, probably best to sit tight for a few days. These things can’t be discussed with other airlines before they’re announced directly – so the partnerships team will be firing off requests to MH for re protection agreements as we speak. If they come back successfully, by the middle of next week they should be published.

    • LittleNick says:
      11 Oct11 October 23:25

      Shouldn’t they do this before they cancel the flights? Like get all the ducks in order? Like they know it’s coming, why not get the options ready when they announce it?

  • George says:
    11 Oct11 October 21:01

    We were on a return economy flights to Kuala Lumpur next month, booked via BA Holidays. Had the flight cancellation email and hour ago and only being shown Qatar via Doha as alternatives online via manage my booking.

    If I select these now, would I then be able to request another change later if something better appears? What is the impact on tier points?

    • LittleNick says:
      11 Oct11 October 23:26

      Generally no, if you accept an alternative it’s locked in unless that alternative is also cancelled, best to not do anything

  • John says:
    11 Oct11 October 21:08

    Sit tight. BA can only approach MH for reroute permission once they have cancelled the route. As they compete they can’t do so in advance (for competition reasons) in the same way they could with QR who they have a JV with. Typically, it can take a week to get an agreement with another airline for rerouting so I expect the guidelines will be updated next week to include MH.

    • LittleNick says:
      11 Oct11 October 23:27

      Can I ask what competition reasons?

      • Ryan Harrigan says:
        12 Oct12 October 00:00

        Yeah because they’re all part of One World right?

        • John says:
          12 Oct12 October 05:57

          There’s no ability to co-ordinate pricing with just oneworld partnership. If BA approached MH in advance to tell them they are cancelling the route MH could use that information for their commercial benefit.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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