British Airways axes Seychelles amid long-haul route cull

The twice-weekly service will be withdrawn on 24 April, only two years after it was reintroduced by the carrier and with operators including Kuoni reporting a spike in bookings for remote island getaways. However, the Seychelles route is also one operated by Gulf carriers at lower cost than BA.

Other BA routes with a high proportion of leisure travellers to be axed include Lima, Muscat, Charleston, Kuala Lumpur and Calgary, which attracts winter sports fans to resorts including Banff and Lake Louise.

Also on the list of permanent route suspensions from the summer 2021 season are Pittsburgh, Seoul, Durban, Dammam, Osaka, Abu Dhabi and Jeddah, although BA will operate to Jeddah for a short time during the Hajj period in July 2021.

In addition, BA will not operate to Sydney or Bangkok until the beginning of the winter 2020/21 season on 30 October next year. It will also suspend flights from Gatwick to Costa Rica’s capital San Jose for the summer from 17 April 2021.

A BA spokesperson said: “We are sorry that, like other airlines, due to the current coronavirus pandemic and global travel restrictions, we are operating a reduced and dynamic schedule.

“We will be in touch with any customers whose flights are affected and advise customers to check ba.com for the latest flight information.”

Other changes are a move from Heathrow to Gatwick for flights to Accra and Islamabad from 28 March next year.