LONDON—UK-based carriers Virgin Atlantic and British Airways (BA) are making further changes to their networks due to ongoing supply chain issues with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines powering their Boeing 787 fleets.
Virgin Atlantic has postponed the relaunch of its Tel Aviv service and the introduction of a new route to Accra, Ghana. The Tel Aviv service, initially set to resume on March 31, 2025, will now restart on Oct. 26 next year. The Accra service, originally planned for May 1, has been pushed to the same date.
The airline cited reduced availability of Trent 1000 engines fitted to its 787-9s as the reason for the delays. “Our teams are working closely with our partners at Rolls-Royce on solutions to minimize disruption to our flying program,” a spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic says.
Despite the delay to the Tel Aviv route, Virgin Atlantic customers can still travel to the Israeli city via a codeshare agreement with El Al, which operates flights between London Heathrow and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport.
However, the adjustment to the Accra launch date means BA will continue to be the sole operator of London-Accra flights during the summer 2025 season. Virgin Atlantic only announced plans to introduce the route in September, alongside the introduction of daily flights to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the SkyTeam alliance member has confirmed to Aviation Week that it no longer plans to launch a route to São Paulo, Brazil, as previously planned. Daily flights to São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport were initially set to begin in May 2024, operated with 787-9s.
However, last November, the airline announced that its South American debut would be delayed to the summer 2025 season, without specifying a start date. It has now confirmed that the route will not be launched, though a codeshare with LATAM Airlines Group will remain in place.
BA is also adjusting its network because of aircraft capacity constraints, suspending daily services between London Heathrow and Kuwait, and London Heathrow and Bahrain, effective March 29. According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, the carrier currently serves Kuwait using 787-8s, while the Bahrain route is operated using 777s.
The airline is also temporarily halting its daily service between London Heathrow and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for the summer 2025 season. The route will run until March 29, 2025, resuming on Oct. 26 for the winter 2025-26 season, according to schedules filed with OAG.
Despite the suspension, connectivity between London and Dallas will be maintained, as BA’s Oneworld alliance partner American Airlines plans to increase its frequency on the route from four daily flights in summer 2024 to five daily flights in summer 2025.
Additionally, BA is also set to remove its second daily flight from London Heathrow to Miami, which was announced in September, while service between London Heathrow and New Delhi will be kept at 2X-daily in summer 2025, rather than 3X-daily as previously planned.
The latest changes come after BA in October reduced capacity to Doha, delayed the launch of a new service to Kuala Lumpur, and cut flights between London Gatwick Airport and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport from Dec. 12 through March 25.
“We’re disappointed that we’ve had to make further changes to our schedule as we continue to experience delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce—particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft,” a BA spokesperson said at the time of the October cuts. The airline has been approached for comment about its latest network changes.
BA made headlines at this year's Farnborough Airshow by switching engine suppliers for its incoming 787s, selecting GE Aerospace's GEnx-1B ahead of the Trent 1000 as its patience with the British engine-maker ran out.
For its part, Rolls-Royce is working to more than double time on wing for the Trent 1000 by introducing a high-pressure turbine blade improvement “in the coming months.” The company is working to secure FAA certification of the upgrade before it can roll out the solution to customers.
Related Content
