To ask WWYD - flight home cancelled

Re CMB and

From the autumn BA will be running a direct flight anyway, far better.

Yep, better still unlike times of old it looks like it's a non-stopper (sorry to bring that up but the whole direct v non-stop label is my pet peeve but it's a bit relevant ATM.)..anyhow ex Gatwick, 3 a week.

Of course (pot half empty time...) a lot the winter's plans could fall apart or change radically if the economy falls apart and oil prices keep escalating.

The issue with Colombo is that it’s at capacity so unless ba was given a slot by Qatar they wouldn’t be able to run a flight. From the autumn BA will be running a direct flight anyway, far better. For anyone still stuck there’s capacity via Delhi, for anyone further east consider travelling via the USA or even via Helsinki over the Pole (a good option from Japan. The Middle East has become a default option in my people’s minds but there’s other ways. I even met a person who has come back from Australia via Rio.

@SkiTurtle
That sounds awful, no wonder you are exhausted after that trek!
Plus all the extra expense too.

My daughter and partner paid £3000 for one flight, for it to be cancelled 30 minutes later, yet they have been told it could be weeks before they get that back! Then they had to pay a further £2600 for another flight home. Their initial all round trip to Malaysia was only £600 each (flights only) So I doubt they will get more than £200/£300 each back, for the return part of their journey. Plus like you they had to pay for extra nights at their hotel etc.

The same as other insurers. Not covered.

We had flights returning from Thailand with Qatar airlines for 7th March via Doha. They initially gave us the option of rebook or cancel which we ignored. We guessed that the flight was going to be cancelled so we booked our own flights home before we got the official cancellation notice. We flew Bangkok to Hong Kong on 9th March, where we stopped for 2 nights. We then did a marathon trek on 11th March from Hong Kong to San Francisco and San Francisco to Heathrow with Cathay Pacific/BA. The extra flights and hotels cost us £2700 in total and we should get a refund from Qatar airlines of approx £1000.
We're absolutely exhausted but it was the cheapest and quickest way of getting home that we could find.

Have BA not mentioned repatriation via e.g. Bengaluru or Chennai, the two Indian stations BA serve that are closest to Sri Lanka?

There's certainly appears to be availability both BLR and MAA to LHR at a price before the end of March...

It's a mystery to me TBH. I certainly can't see there being a rescue mission, even if BA could get the permissions a quick back of the envelope calculation shows an out and back UK/Sri Lanka by something like a 777 could probably cost best part of half a million.....so paying your hotel costs until the original route option becomes available again is for them the cheap option........

Not doubting what the OPs been told but there's something a bit odd about this..

BA have to carry the can overall but I wonder if it's more a problem.with Qatar not facilitating the Sri Lanka -Doha bit any time soon and them having traffic rights on that route.

I'd hazard an informed guess that Sri Lanka - UK would be an easyish non-stop for pretty much anything BA can't use on their Gulf routes ATM (typically 777s, 787, A350), even with the current route diversions, no need to go the long way round/use an intermediate stop....but the whether there's enough demand to justify setting such a flight up ???

It will be due to landing slots and most airports not actually having a lot of spare capacity. Yes, in theory they could take one of the planes that usually goes to Dubai and reroute it to SE Asia, but they would need a landing slot they don't have at that airport. They would probably also need one somewhere on route to refuel, as very few planes can carry that much fuel, and those probably aren't the planes they have sitting around because they can't fly to the middle east.

I’m also stunned tbh. I can’t believe there isn’t any better solution, even if that means them refuelling somewhere and taking you the long way around. You’d need a decent line of credit to sustain that amount of time away from home.

What a nightmare!
I am fully vested in your trip home. Thanks for keeping us updated & hope you make it back soon.

We came home from India a week ago. We were originally due to come home via Qatar but our travel agent got us flights via Oman. The only problem for us was our original flight was Business Class and we went home Economy as the flights had gone up so much. We were just lucky to get home.

Exactly as long as you are safe and well.

My daughter basically had an extra week in a lovely place too. A lot of that time spent on her phone looking for alternative flights.
Just lots to sort out, dog in the kennels, car at Heathrow, partner self employed so had to rearrange a lot of work etc etc.
They've also been told they will get a parking fine, but to contact the hotel when they do and they will sort it, fortunately!

My daughter and partner paid £1,300 each to get home from Malaysia. More than double their original flight. They were talking to another couple doing the same route and they only paid £800 each!!!
Disgusting!

If you cancel your flight it is going to cost you thousands to get home. Your best option is to try and transfer your ticket via Singapore but don’t cancel unless you’re a millionaire!

To add to the above..

Just checked and I can see the European regulator has now extended the recommendation for EU operators to avoid airspace/airports in the conflict area until 18 Mar (can be reviewed earlier)...

It's definitely only a recommendation and airlines can (and do) take other advice on this sort of thing but it's maybe indicative of the thinking in high places.

For those that like the techy stuff:

www.easa.europa.eu/en/domains/air-operations/czibs/2026-03-r3

Thanks, sorry to hear that but not suprised....I haven't looked at the state of play regarding Gulf airports and airspace this AM but I know the european regulator was strongly recommending EU carriers avoid that whole part of the globe at least until today, and that recommendation may be extended...the UK advice could well be identical

Even when that recommendation lapses I think the UK/EU carriers are going to be wary for a few days and their operations might be limited....

Hope the SIN back up works for you.

Sorry to hear that.

I've lost track, can I ask was the back up 16th March that got cancelled routing through the Gulf?