British Airways is reviving a route it dropped a decade ago — and this time there's no stopover. From October 23, the airline will fly nonstop between London Gatwick and Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport, its first direct service to Sri Lanka. When BA last served Colombo between 2013 and 2015, every flight routed via Malé in the Maldives.

The service runs three times a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays outbound, returning Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — through the northern winter season only, with the last departure of the first season on March 26, 2027. Westbound flights take about 10 hours; the return leg runs closer to 11.5 hours. Expect a 332-seat Boeing 777-200ER with 32 Club World suites, 48 World Traveller Plus seats and a roomy-by-numbers economy cabin of 252 seats.

Why Sri Lanka, and why now? South Asia is a growing priority for BA, which has nearly 1.9 million round-trip seats on sale to the region in 2026 — a record, and about 10% above last year. Sri Lanka itself has bounced back strongly since the difficulties of 2019: intercontinental traffic from its top 20 markets is up 22% versus 2019, according to industry analyst Behramjee Ghadially. European visitors tend to stay around 10 days, splitting time between the beaches — Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna have been branded the Ibiza of Asia — and inland draws like Yala National Park's leopards, the tea country and the fortified old town of Galle.

London is by far Sri Lanka's biggest European market, with over 409,000 round-trip passengers in 2025 — more than double second-place Paris. A chunk of that is the Sri Lankan diaspora visiting family, not just holidaymakers.

The catch, and the reason BA is basing the route at Gatwick with a low-premium cabin layout, is price sensitivity. Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad flood the one-stop market with cheap fares, so BA is chasing volume rather than business-class yields. Whether the route earns a second winter will depend on how the first season performs. For travellers, though, the maths is simple: the first nonstop UK–Sri Lanka option means less competition is needed — a nonstop beats any one-stop routing via the Gulf for sheer convenience, and it may shake up fares too.

Who is this for? Anyone planning a Sri Lanka winter-sun escape who'd rather not add a layover, plus diaspora travellers and anyone pairing Sri Lanka with the Maldives or southern India.