British Airways has rolled out a batch of long-haul changes this winter, and several of them open up genuinely new or returning options for UK travellers heading further afield.
The headline move involves Florida. On October 25, BA ended a 40-year run at Gatwick and shifted its Tampa service to Heathrow, flying five times a week on Boeing 787-10s. It's the first time the route gets the airline's international First Class cabin, and Heathrow now has two carriers flying nonstop to Tampa, with Virgin Atlantic also on the route.
Costa Rica got the same treatment. The San Juan service (to San José's Juan Santamaría airport) moved from Gatwick to Heathrow and, notably, has been upgraded from a winter-seasonal route to year-round. Winter frequencies run at five weekly flights through to March 27, 2027 — handy for anyone planning a rainforest-and-beach trip without a connection.
Australia fans have the longest wait but the biggest news: BA returns to Melbourne on January 9, 2027, its first service to the city in over two decades. The daily flight runs from Heathrow via Kuala Lumpur on a 787-9. Demand is clearly there — Heathrow alone accounted for roughly 264,000 round-trip passengers to Melbourne in the year to June 2026, most of whom previously connected through Gulf hubs or Singapore. A one-stop on a single airline could be an appealing alternative.
Sri Lanka is back on the map too. From October 23, BA has been flying nonstop from Gatwick to Colombo three times a week for the northern winter — a return after 11 years, and this time without the old stop in Malé. London is Sri Lanka's biggest European market, with around 409,000 round-trip passengers in 2025. The catch: competition. SriLankan Airlines flies nonstop from London, and Emirates, Etihad and Qatar offer aggressive one-stop fares, so it'll be interesting to see if the route sticks.
Why does this matter for travellers? Heathrow passengers gain two warm-weather options with premium cabins (Tampa and San José), Colombo returns as a nonstop Gatwick option for winter sun, and Melbourne-bound travellers will soon have a proper one-stop alternative to the Gulf carriers. Anyone holding Gatwick bookings on the affected routes should double-check their airport and times, since frequencies and terminals have changed.
