Virgin Atlantic has cancelled all UK flights to Dubai until at least winter 2027.
The airline has stated that due to ‘evolving customer demand’, there needed to be some changes made to its winter 2026 flying programme.
Currently, Virgin Atlantic offers one direct flight per day from London Heathrow to the popular tourist destination. However, the decision has been made to ‘temporarily suspend’ its seasonal service to Dubai until at least next year.
The major airline also announced that all services to Seattle will be temporarily suspended for the Winter 2026 season only, before resuming in March 2027.
Customers can continue to travel to Seattle with Virgin Atlantic’s partner Delta Air Lines, who will offer daily services from London Heathrow.
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The airline added that both the schedule and any affecting bookings should be updated by today, Saturday May 9.
Announcing the change on its website, the airline stated: ‘We’re very sorry for the disappointment caused to our customers. Our schedule change policy can assist those with a ticketed booking when applying for a full refund.’
The news comes amid the ongoing disruption to global air travel due to conflict in the Middle East.
Soaring jet fuel prices has triggered a monsoon of cancelled flights, with some airlines being forced to shut down operations entirely due to financial strain.
While a number of international airlines are still flying to Dubai, most are running on a reduced capacity.
Currently, the official guidance from the FCDO is to avoid ‘all but essential travel to United Arab Emirates’.
Virgin Atlantic adds flights to Cape Town
To ease the blow, however, Virgin Atlantic has redeployed its fleet to offer more long-haul services to South Africa.
From October 2026 to April 2027, the airline will operate up to 10 weekly flights between London Heathrow and Johannesburg OR Tambo, and 11 weekly services to Cape Town.
More than 400,000 UK visitors travelled to South Africa in 2025, with tourists drawn to the safaris, scenic wine regions, and history.
Popular across generations, British Airways have been operating daily direct flights to Cape Town from London Heathrow for some time now, expanding their own service in March this year.
All the airlines cancelling flights due to jet fuel crisis
Carriers around the world are scrapping routes and rolling out extra charges to manage soaring fuel prices driven by the war on Iran and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait, which has effectively been blocked by Iran since February, handles approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply.
On April 16, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, said Europe has ‘maybe six weeks or so [of] jet fuel left,’ warning passengers to expect cancellations into the summer months.
To read the full list of airlines cancelling flights and adding costs, read Metro‘s comprehensive explainer here.
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