Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways to suspend Bahrain and Kuwait flights “by the end of Q1 2025”

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

British Airways has announced it will suspend services to Bahrain and Kuwait early next year. Passengers on impacted services were informed this morning.

The news follows hot on the heels of BA pulling its own aircraft off Dallas and Miami services, to be replaced by flights from joint venture partner American Airlines.

In a letter to colleagues, the airline says it continues to “navigate a challenging operating environment”.

Rolls-Royce delivery delays strike again

The culprit, once again, appears to be down to engines. Delays on receiving engines and parts from Rolls-Royce, particularly for the Trent 1000 engines that power BA’s Boeing 787 fleet, “have significantly impacted” the flying schedule and was one of the reasons the launch of flights to Kuala Lumpur was pulled at the last minute, as well.

“The impact of this supply chain issue has meant we’ve been using standby aircraft from our 777 fleet to avoid cancellations. What’s more, equipment manufacturers and suppliers globally are struggling to meet demand, increasing the risk of further disruptions to our flying schedule.

Our teams have been working tirelessly to ensure our aircraft are available to meet the needs of the flying schedule. However, unfortunately, the measures we’ve introduced so far are no longer sustainable, and a more substantial course of action is now needed.”

That course of action involves suspending flights to Bahrain and Kuwait by the end of March. It seems these routes were underperforming, with BA suggesting that “these routes are currently not as viable as others.”

Bahrain and Kuwait are not exactly routes with high leisure demand, so it speaks to the post-covid environment that these previous business heavy routes have been cut over other, leisure oriented routes. I think few people on HfP will mourn the loss of these two destinations and will be happy that others, such as the recently restarted flights to Bangkok, continue.

It will, unfortunately, lead to a number of redundancies in Bahrain where BA has a cabin crew base.

BA has been flying to the region since 1932

Amazingly, the predecessor airlines of British Airways have been flying to the Gulf since 1932. Did you know that London to Bahrain was the first route flown by Concorde?

In 1992, to celebrate 60 years, British Airways produced this video (click to visit YouTube) which is a fascinating look at how flying used to be.

This couple don’t look like the sort who would appreciate ‘breakfast pancakes’ served at 1pm:

What are you entitled to if your flight has been cancelled?

If you have a flight to Bahrain or Kuwait beyond the first quarter next year then you should already have received an email from British Airways informing you of the cancellation. Don’t forget you are entitled to your EU261 rights, which means you have a choice of:

  • a full refund
  • re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity
  • re-routing at a later date at your convenience under comparable transport conditions, subject to the availability of seats

Guidance on the British Airways A travel trade website suggests that anyone with a flight scheduled from 1st January 2025 until 31st December 2025 will be able to change their flights, although you won’t be able to claim a refund unless your flight was cancelled. It’s not clear why BA is letting people move from flights which in theory, between January and March, are still operating.

The current guidance suggests that you will be able to rebook onto any date with availability with British Airways. Alternatively, BA will let you rebook onto a Qatar Airways service +/- 14 days of your original travel dates.

Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways are the only other airlines to fly direct from London to these destinations, respectively, but BA has not announced any rebooking onto these airlines (yet). As we saw with the delayed launch of flights to Kuala Lumpur, it may be worth waiting a few days to see what other options pop up, rather than rushing to the phone immediately.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 70,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (July 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express Credit Card

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 on the FREE standard card and 1 Avios per £1 on the Pro card. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (78)

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

  • John says:
    8 Nov8 November 09:32

    As a reminder given some of the misguided commentary on the LHR-KUL thread, BA can only approach other airlines for a rebooking agreement once they have announced the route closure. Therefore, if you want to be rebooked onto non-stop Gulf Air or Kuwait Air flights wait at least 1 week before phoning for this alternative.

    • meta says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:02

      That’s bs. Competition laws don’t prevent them to start negotiations. It’s more that they can’t make up their mind and wait until last moment to make a decision leaving no time for negotiations plus they are also greedy so they want to hold onto passenger’s money as long as possible.

      • Nick says:
        8 Nov8 November 14:01

        That’s your opinion. In the eyes of BA’s lawyers and external legal advisers, starting discussions with other airlines before announcing publicly is a huge no-no, and extremely likely (per their training) to land managers doing it in prison. At the very least they’ll be dismissed with no notice, this is company policy.

        If you know different and have qualifications to back it please get in touch, I’m sure they’ll be pleased to take your advice for a reasonable fee.

    • JDB says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:08

      This is a myth perpetuated by a few ill informed posters. The KUL cancellations were announced somewhat prematurely so a plan wasn’t in place. For these BAH/KWI route suspensions, the rerouting guidelines were published almost simultaneously.

      • Rob says:
        8 Nov8 November 10:16

        Take it from me as fact, Malaysia Airlines did not know about the BA cancellation in advance.

        • JDB says:
          8 Nov8 November 10:21

          That was BA’s choice not to tell MH rather than any legal considerations. The Beijing route suspension was known to China Southern so that rebooking policy was published simultaneously.

          • Rob says:
            8 Nov8 November 10:32

            There’s a JV with China Southern though, in the same way there’s a JV with Qatar Airways which presumably covers Bahrain and Kuwait.

          • John says:
            8 Nov8 November 11:17

            Rob is spot on.

          • JDB says:
            8 Nov8 November 12:03

            The option of rerouting with LH group airlines was offered for the Shanghai and Hong Kong cancellations (but not Beijing) at the time of the announcement. They aren’t in any sort of JV/codeshare deal on these routes. I think the issue with KUL is that BA isn’t very friendly with MH. That said, BA isn’t at all friendly with Iberia but they are obliged to play together.

      • Martin says:
        9 Nov9 November 06:17

        JDB.
        Do you work as a lawyer for these airlines ?
        You seem to always be on the side of these changes, backing the companies involved ..
        You put your penny’s worth into many a comment on many subjects, most of which seem to come from the corporate spiel, which is very often not actuality legally correct..

        Do you Google people’s comments and then post the Google answer ?
        It seems more and more like you are the new samsung AI bot (or Apple version).

        If you are the God from above, why aren’t you selling your services as an advisor. So we can all travel better for less ??

    • tiberius says:
      8 Nov8 November 12:20

      Will BA provide any confirmation whether they are negotiating/ pursuing an agreement with Gulf Air for cancelled flights? I had flights cancelled for Eid and F1 in Bahrain, Qatar timings aren’t great (and Gulf operate at almost identical times to the now former BA flight)

    • Lady London says:
      8 Nov8 November 23:41

      They don’t actually need a rebooking agreement to follow the law snd reroute pasaengers whose flights they cancelled. If there’s another operator’s flight thst meets the as soom as reasonably possible condition, the cancelled BA passrnger has a tight to bw rerouted onto that flight or another flight that meets the passenger’s legal entitlementbto be rerouted onto it. At BA expense. BA has no right to insist that ” an agreement mist be present” before they do this.

      BA wanting sn agreement is only aboiu them reducing their costs to do what they legally have to do snyway. If a passenger urgently needs to secure his rerouting he should not be sitting around or having available seats on flights that fulfil his rerouting timing needs disappear or have valid reroutings refused while BA wastes his time saving themselves money for a decision they made that hsd caused his plans to be messed up.

  • David Quinn says:
    8 Nov8 November 09:48

    We had flights to Shanghai booked in premium economy next March 11, but BA have cancelled that flight too, specifying the engine issues as the reason. It was booked as part of a bigger package via a travel agent. We’re waiting to hear from the TA what the replacement will be. Do the same rights apply to a TA booking like ours?

    • NorthernLass says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:02

      Yes exactly the same rights, though TA will have to sort it out.

    • JDB says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:05

      Yes, you have identical statutory rights but having to deal with an intermediary may slow things down but at least requires them to deal with BA. The problem with your PE booking is that many of the possible rerouting airlines such as Qatar or China Southern don’t operate a PE cabin.

      • David Quinn says:
        9 Nov9 November 10:05

        Thanks, that was my concern. The original routing was economy via Beijing and we paid quite a bit more for the direct PE flight, so not keen to downgrade again. We’ll see what they come up with.

  • Raja says:
    8 Nov8 November 09:51

    LHR to Bahrain was one of the reasons I used BA (companion voucher etc). Any specific reason they stopped?

    • Rob says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:03

      Flights are empty, based on recent feedback. We’re talking under 50 people at times.

      • Raja says:
        8 Nov8 November 10:24

        Wow …didn’t realise it was that bad… Was wondering why I always had loads of availability… Got my next trip booked in 3 weeks in club world for the four of us.

      • e14 says:
        8 Nov8 November 10:28

        So that’s the reason EF shut down the seatmaps, so we couldn’t monitor BAH, KWI and DOH?

        As for the ‘new’ service to BKK, a three class rust bucket 777 out of Gatshit, nope that does not leave me with a warm glow. Let’s get LIM back on the list 🤣

        • TGLoyalty says:
          8 Nov8 November 10:41

          What makes the Gatwick 777 rust buckets? They are younger than the G-VIIx 777 and similar age to G-YMMx at Heathrow and had full refurbs in 2018/19.

          • Skywalker says:
            8 Nov8 November 12:08

            @TGLoyalty I like that you picked up on @e14’s 777 “rust bucket” comment, but left “Gatshit” unchallenged 😀

      • meta says:
        8 Nov8 November 13:38

        A month ago I saw 8 seats available in F across number of days.

  • Stephen says:
    8 Nov8 November 09:56

    As someone who lived in Kuwait for a number of years, losing the BA flight will be a real pain, with only the somewhat shabby (and dry) Kuwait Airways as a direct alternative.
    The BA morning flight leaving Kuwait was always quite fun as the passengers, who often had no or very limited access to alcohol in Kuwait, got stuck into the booze for 6 hours, before being poured out at Heathrow around lunchtime.

  • Domo1915 says:
    8 Nov8 November 10:26

    I really enjoyed the Bahrain flight. Went last year after Christmas. Terminal 3 Heathrow lounges and Pearl Lounge in Bahrain was really nice too. Business availability was easy though so flights weren’t busy so can see.

    Hopefully it’s not replaced with yet another dull US destination.

    • Richie says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:31

      PITtsburg is still for sale.

    • Jake says:
      8 Nov8 November 11:01

      Happy to be corrected but I don’t think this will lead to new routes or new flights? I suspect the equipment issues on ‘flagship’ high yield routes were costing more than the profit made on Bahrain / Kuwait.

      As such it is probably preferable for BA to have these planes waiting as a replacement so they don’t have to cancel high-yield routes rather than running the other flights.

  • Nico says:
    8 Nov8 November 10:35

    Looking at results today, does not inspire confidence to have more flights going east and I am booked to KL in April in PE.

    • Lady London says:
      8 Nov8 November 23:50

      I can’t see next summer happening for much of what’s being cancelled now for the winter.

  • tiberius says:
    8 Nov8 November 10:38

    I solely used my companion voucher for trips to family in Bahrain. Am I correct in saying that the only way to get to Bahrain with a 241 is to fly BA to Jed/Riy/Doh/Auh/dxb with a 2 for 1 and get an unprotected connecting flight from those destinations to Bahrain? Would I be able to book Lon to Doha with a 241 and qatar to bahrain with avios (obviously with no 241/paying the full avios price) on the same ticket to make it a protected connection?

    • JDB says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:46

      No, BA won’t book reward and revenue flights on the same PNR nor check your bags for the onward flight. Airline systems fare construction systems aren’t designed for mix and match, it’s not just BA being awkward.

      • meta says:
        8 Nov8 November 13:43

        The systems are not designed for mix& match, but they are designed for interlining luggage even when on separate tickets. The majority of airlines will do that for you, but a few odd ones stand out like BA, Iberia, etc.

        In Hong Kong you can just go to the transfer desk and they’ll do it for you even when on separate tickets with BA. Not sure if there are other airports set-up like that.

        • John says:
          8 Nov8 November 19:58

          In Hong Kong, they will not do it for you any longer (they used to before covid). It is only possible if you book online 48 hours in advance and pay HK$260, and the flights must be 150 minutes apart.

    • Tony says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:47

      Your only option will be an unprotected connection on a different ticket. I had a similar issue in a different part of the world and despite BA selling tickets for the short leg via a code share the person on the phone told me they couldn’t add it to my 241 ticket even if I offered to buy it separately using cash.

  • BJ says:
    8 Nov8 November 10:44

    If my inbox is anything to go by IAG care far more about WineFlyer than BA. If they don’t stop the rot soon we’ll end up with British Boutique Airways or British Atlantic Airways.

    • Vit says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:54

      hahahaha! You’re on fire today, BJ!

      Anyway, thanks for the tips. Did try to have a look for award flight with AY from BKK back to EDI via Alaska but no luck in J. I might just try my luck with SK into CPH, 50k EB points and a ~1k THB on a nearer date next year.

      • BJ says:
        8 Nov8 November 11:13

        @Vit, Hardly, looks like I missed a devaluation. I need to study the new charts. Good luvk getting your seats.

    • JDB says:
      8 Nov8 November 10:56

      @BJ – outside North America, South America and Europe, IAG reports conditions in the rest of the world as “challenging” and in Asia Pacific notes passenger unit revenue as declining by 15% in Q3.

      If you were running an airline business, what would you do? The market east is horrendously competitive and logistically/structurally more difficult and costly. Does it make sense to add a lot of resource there?

      • BJ says:
        8 Nov8 November 11:26

        @JDB, my comment was flippant. Having said that they are cutting back on USA too.Far East may be describled as challenging but fares are higher than thet’ve been for years abd other aurlines such as Lufty are expanding tgeir services. I am in @LadyLondon camp taking the view that Qatar Airways is partly shaping IAG and BA in particular. It’s of little concern for me and I guess most in the regions but I think this direction of travel is bad news for passengers lije you in London and South East who have long-enjoyed direct flights from LHR and LGW. Perhaps if @Rhys can find the time he can draw up some charts showing the changing nature of BA route network over the last four or give decades.

        • JDB says:
          8 Nov8 November 11:44

          Of course Qatar has an input – any 25% shareholder would. The key however, is that IAG and BA operate on a strictly commercial basis and they have no sugar daddy, or operating subsidies so they fly where the money is. Even if BA weren’t so closely tied in to QR, would their Asia Pacific route map look so different?

          Fares are higher, but nothing like higher enough to make up for the long routes vs NAm and Asia fares will stay under pressure with lower cost operators and when aircraft deliveries eventually step up, all hell will break loose.

          The LH group may be expanding its services but maybe that’s why it’s not very profitable and it flies some routes for reasons of expediency/government pressure. Is LH as an airline or its loyalty scheme so marvellous?

          • meta says:
            8 Nov8 November 13:34

            Another important factor is that leisure and business travel from Asia is at its lowest. Asians have no desire to travel to Europe or the US in the same numbers they used to in the past.

          • BJ says:
            8 Nov8 November 19:17

            @JDB no, certainly not, Lufty was the only travel company to screw me during the pandemic, I have no intention of flying them again.

        • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
          8 Nov8 November 12:04

          How in your opinion is QR “shaping” IAG?

          Yes they nominate two directors onto the board (the so called propitiatory directors) but neither of them have any direct connection to QR but do have extensive airline experience. Their bios are on the IAG website.

          And the structure of IAG is more of a facilitator to than a director of their subsidiary airlines

          • Nick says:
            8 Nov8 November 13:50

            QR has quiet influence on BA, that is to say they stay quiet as long as BA does what they want.

            In reality all Asian routes that BA doesn’t currently operate need QR’s permission.

          • BJ says:
            8 Nov8 November 19:20

            My guess is they want BA to cease flying most of their routes East of Doha and codeshare QR.

    • Rob says:
      8 Nov8 November 11:19

      Ha. Indeed. I actually just unsubscribed from Wine Flyer emails 10 minutes ago because they were impacting my ability to get any work done!

      • mkcol says:
        8 Nov8 November 13:32

        Oh I did not realise I could unsub from Whine Flyer specifically *rushes to inbox*

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 50,000 bonus points (worth 50,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Special offer: Get 30,000 bonus Hilton Honors points until 14th August 2025

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? Get the only free credit card with points which convert to Avios

Get points worth 20,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!