British Airways has cut more than 2,000 flights from its schedules through to the end of March. The flights have been removed from the schedule between November 26th and December 3rd. The changes are thought to be unrelated to the UK bringing back PCR testing for all on November 27th.

While things are generally getting better for the aviation industry, airlines continue to suffer from the impact of snap decisions causing uncertainty around future planning. Stricter rules mean a drop in demand for travel, with little to no warning usually given about changes to the rules.

British Airways slashes flight schedules

According to flight data experts Cirium, over the past week, British Airways cut over 2,000 flights from its schedule up to and including March. January was the single worst-hit month with a 1,146 decrease in scheduled flights week on week (that is to say from last week's schedule to this week's schedule). The airline trimmed 545 flights from the schedule in December, 210 in February, and 243 in March, giving a total flight reduction of 2,144 flights over the four months.

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The worst affected destinations during January vastly differ in length from domestic hops, all the way to transcontinental treks. 31 rotations have been canceled from Belfast to Glasgow and Birmingham. Meanwhile, flights from London Heathrow to Johannesburg and Cape Town have also dropped by 31 services in response to the UK government re-establishing the red list. This includes postponing the Airbus A380's return to South Africa.

Just two routes saw an increase in scheduled flights during January 2022. The route between London and Cairo will see 12 additional rotations, increasing it to twice daily across the month. Meanwhile, British Airways has also added four further rotations on its mammoth trek from London Heathrow to Santiago in Chile.

Still far better than a year ago

While it may seem pretty doom and gloom that British Airways has cut its upcoming schedule, the airline actually remains in a far better position than a year ago. According to the plan as of Friday, the program is significantly beefier than a year ago, with February 2022 sitting over 600% higher than the same month this year. There are 18,810 flights planned for February 2022, compared to just 2,669 this year.

The other months affected by schedule cuts in the past week also sit significantly above the previous year. December has the lowest year-on-year increase from 6,709 to 16,672, an increase of roughly 150%.

While it seems relatively unplausible that British Airways will be forced to cut as many flights again this winter, it is possible that the UK could continue to enforce more rules and bolster the red list in response to the perceived threat of the Omicron variant.

Were you aware of how many flights British Airways had cut in a week? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!

Article updated at 10:50 on December 7th following contact from British Airways.