To ask WWYD - flight home cancelled

[Twoshoesnewshoes]

Posting for traffic - we are in Sri Lanka and due to fly home on Friday 13th with Qatar airlines, via Doha, to London Heathrow.
we booked through BA -
both BA and Qatar are saying that flights up to 8th March can get a refund.
we think we can fly to Singapore then direct to London- there are not many flights available, and it would cost around £1400 each (double our original flight).

WWYD - should we wait and see if airspace clears over Middle East?
or book another flight while they’re available and hope our original flight remains cancelled?
we can afford it but that will be savings cleared out.
please help
YABU - hold tight, air space may clear
YANBU - book another flight now!

That's good news OP. We are still in limbo. My son is due home from Thailand on an Emirates via Dubai on the 16th. I don't think it will fly because even though there are Bangkok to Dubai flights going, his particular one hasn't gone since it happened. He's a young 19 and travelling home alone. I don't want him to be stuck so we have bought him an alternative flight via Hong Kong for 5 days later. Just waiting for him to get the cancellation through from Emirates. I know he could request it himself now but he is holding on to hope and not wanting to do it.
It's interesting about your accommodation costs being covered. I dont think that will be the case with Emirates so I am expecting to be out of pocket. His good Emirates flight cost him 500. My alternative has a 9 hour layover and cost 800, so already down

My daughter arrived home at 11pm last night (Monday) after starting off from Kuala Lumpur at 5am Sunday morning UK time. They had a stop over in China.

Kuala Lumpur > Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport > Heathrow.

This was with Qingdao Airlines and Beijing Capital Airlines.

Not a dicky bird off Etihad. She should have been home last Tuesday.

Sorry to hear about your son :(

Does he have travel insurance? Although according to Martin Lewis, claims look unlikely ......

What travel insurance will – and won't – cover
Many travel insurance policies have wide exclusions relating to war, conflict or insurrection, according to the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) – meaning claims relating to delays and cancellations are unlikely to succeed.
Similarly, additional costs incurred while you're stuck abroad (such as food or accommodation) are unlikely to be covered by standard travel insurance policies, according to BIBA. The same is also true if you've decided not to travel.
However, you may still be covered for medical emergencies unrelated to the conflict, such as falling ill or having an accident, for example. Five major insurers – ABTA Travel Insurance, Admiral, AllClear, Allianz Partners and Staysure – told us they would extend single-trip policies to cover these scenarios for those stranded abroad.
However, the best thing to do is contact your travel insurer directly to see how it can help, as industry body the Association of British Insurers (ABI) told us "approaches can vary".

That is good news that you are able to claim back your expenses.

My daughters travel insurers said today ...... Our travel team have advised that, at this stage, they’re unable to confirm cover while they await further guidance regarding the recent events. But the team won’t be able to give a final decision until your claim has been submitted and all documentation has been uploaded and reviewed.

@Echlefecker im sorry that sounds stressful for all of you.
@KatieA12B3C the expenses are covered by BA not our insurers, but non UK airlines don’t offer the same recompense I believe.

our 16th March flight which I booked through BA at lunchtime today as a reroute has just been cancelled!

Oh No!! So sorry @Twoshoesnewshoes

@Twoshoesnewshoes

Sorry to hear that, how awful. You aren't having much luck are you 🙁
It's a nightmare!

Oh it’s okay - bit stressy trying to sort flights but I’m in a lovely place and having a great holiday.
must be awful to be stuck in the Middle East.

Sorry to hear that.

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

@notimagain the back up that got cancelled was a reroute offer from BA via Doha. They have now rescheduled us for the 18th -via Doha 🙄
our own back up (not via BA) are flights via Singapore with Singapore air- also in the 18th!
not getting a refund from BA atm though as, following advice on here, we can claim for our accommodation and expenses until the 18th

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.

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

Booked a reroute yesterday with BA
they cancelled the flights two hours later
ffs

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!

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!

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!

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.

We have had our third flight reroute with BA cancelled today- it was for the 18th.
they haven’t offered me a new flight as the next availability is 31st May !! And they will allocate nearer the time.
so so glad we booked a back up flight !

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

Awww thanks @JustMyView13 , I’m in disbelief that BA wouldn’t actually put us on a flight till the end of May! We can claim for hotel expenses and food for two and a half months!

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.

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.

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 ???

Yes it seems really extreme.
i wonder if they just want people to take the refund and sort themselves out?

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........