British Airways To Fly Melbourne To London From 2027
BA offers Australians a new flight to Europe next year
It’s been more than twenty years since British Airways flew into Melbourne, but the carrier is set to return with direct daily flights to London from January 2027. British Airways will deploy its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Melbourne, in a four-class configuration featuring First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy.
The direct service will operate with a short stopover in Kuala Lumpur, where passengers will need to disembark the aircraft. It’s not currently known if flights between Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur will become available for booking on their own.
From 9 January 2027, flight BA33 will depart London Heathrow daily at 9:10pm, arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 6:05pm the following day. After a 1-hour 40-minute layover, the flight continues to Melbourne at 7:45pm, touching down in Melbourne at 6:40am the day after.
The return flight BA34 will commence from 11 January 2027, blasting out of Melbourne at 4:35pm, for a 9:35pm arrival in Kuala Lumpur. After a 1-hour 40-minute layover, the flight then departs at 11:15pm for a landing in London at 5:20am the next morning.
Tickets are expected to go on sale from 17 March 2026.
Melbourne Airport CEO, Lorie Argus, said the team was thrilled to welcome British Airways back to Melbourne.
“British Airways is one of the world’s most recognisable airlines and in its more than 100 years of flying has earned a well-deserved reputation for excellence and reliability…With the largest choice of airlines flying to the UK and Europe, 24-hour operations and the shortest minimum connection time of any Australian airport, Melbourne Airport is now the clear choice.”
British Airways Chief Planning and Strategy Officer, Neil Chernoff, explained that the new route represents a significant investment in the airline’s long-haul network.
“We’re delighted to announce sizable growth to our flying schedule for Winter 2026, including a new route to Melbourne…We have a long history of connecting Britain and Australia, and we’re excited to be returning to this great city.”
Booking British Airways’ Melbourne Flights With Points
As mentioned, tickets are set to go on sale later today, 17 March. Hopefully, this also means award availability will open up.
As you might expect, redemptions will be possible using Avios via the British Airways Executive Club. But British Airways Avios redemptions are generally poor value on long-haul routes, especially with dynamic peak pricing. BA also does not publish reward tables.
The good news is that you can send BA Avios to Qatar Airways Avios at a 1:1 transfer ratio and unlock some better rates. In Australia, the easiest way to earn Avios is by transferring American Express MR Points to British Airways or Qatar Airways.
Booking with Qantas Points is also an option, thanks to British Airways being part of the Oneworld alliance. Qantas prices by distance, and earning Qantas Points in Australia is very easy.
Here’s how many points you’ll need for a one-way redemption.
Which Business Class Will BA Fly To Melbourne?
British Airways has confirmed its Melbourne-London flights will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. However, the airline has yet to specify which cabin configuration will be used, a detail that is more important than it sounds.
Some of BA’s 787-9s still feature one of the worst Business Class seats currently flying. A 2-3-2 layout with limited privacy, minimal storage, and the possibility of a middle seat. The seats are also arranged so they face each other - a bit like a bus. For a flight of this length, it’s far from ideal.
While BA is in the middle of upgrading its 787s with the newer seats, data from planespotters.net indicates that just one B787-9 has been updated at the time of writing. Although more aircraft will hopefully be retrofitted by the time these flights hit the sky, for now, it is likely that passengers will have to endure the outdated product.
