British Airways Unveils 8 New Boeing 787 Heathrow Routes: See Full List Now

Credit: Robin Guess | Shutterstock, Simple Flying Published Nov 12, 2026, 7:00 AM EST James lives and breathes route development. Educated in Air Transport Management at Loughborough University and Cranfield University, James has a PhD in Airline Strategy and Economics. James was Market Opportunity Analyst at London Luton Airport and Chief Analyst at anna.aero. He taught airline strategy and economics to undergraduate and postgraduate students for five years and has worked closely with multiple carriers on route and market intelligence projects. He is based near London, UK. Sign in to your Simple Flying account British Airways is one of only a tiny number of operators to fly all three variants of the Boeing 787. Ch-aviation shows that the oneworld member has 44 Dreamliners, which is the Boeing moniker. It has 18 787-9s (215 and 216 seats), 14 787-10s (256 seats), and 12 787-8s (204 seats). The subfleet is entirely deployed from London Heathrow. However, BA eventually plans to replace its so-called Gatwick-configured 777-200ERs at the UK's second-busiest airport, which have fewer premium seats and higher overall capacity, with the 787-10. In time, Gatwick's widebodies will be all-Dreamliner. British Airways Adds The 787 On Seven Long-Haul Markets OAG data was used to examine BA's 787 network from Heathrow. This looked at the routes available between January and September 2026, and then compared that to what's scheduled to operate from October 2026 through next year. This reflects what is known as of November 12 and certainly may change. Recent analysis shows that BA has pulled the 787 from six routes. Start Date For 787 Flights (October 2026+) From Heathrow To... 787 Operations (Until October 2027) % Of Flights On The 787 (Until October 2027) What Variants (Until October 2027)? Was The 787 Used Before? October 25, 2026 Johannesburg Up to daily through the end of March 2027 (replaces the A380) 10% 787-9 Yes, most recently in 2024 October 25, 2026 San José (Costa Rica) Up to five weekly (route switched from Gatwick, on which the 777-200ER was deployed) 100% 787-8, 787-9 (once) No October 25, 2026 Tampa Up to daily (route switched from Gatwick, on which the 777-200ER was deployed) 100% 787-10, 787-8 (once) No January 9, 2027 Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur Daily (route returning after 20 years) 100% 787-9 No March 28, 2027 Bahrain Daily (replaces the 777-200ER; route currently suspended) 100% 787-9 Yes, most recently in 2025 March 28, 2027 Rio de Janeiro Daily (replaces the 777-200ER) 57% 787-8 Yes, most recently in 2023 March 28, 2027 San Francisco Daily (replaces the 777-200ER/777-300ER) 24% 787-9 Yes, most recently in 2023 Some of the routes are highly intriguing. This includes service to San José, the capital of Costa Rica and an increasingly important gateway for higher-end nature tourism. While the long route to Central America was flown by BA from Gatwick for the past decade, it is the first time that Heathrow has had flights there. The switch will help achieve higher yields and, somewhat paradoxically, a greater focus on connecting traffic. Loading map… Drag to explore Then There Is This Short-Haul 787 Market On October 28, 2026, BA reintroduced the 787 on the short hop from Heathrow to Madrid, which links two critical IAG hubs. BA has flown widebody aircraft to Barajas for a long time. Iberia has too, and continues to do so on the A330 and A350 (I have flown the A350 on this route). The primary reason is to provide additional belly hold freight capacity to South America. BA deployed the 767-300ER to Madrid for years, followed by the 777-200ER and the 787. The A380 appeared for crew familiarization and training. The so-called Dreamliner was used to Spain between 2017 and 2022, so the return after four years was notable. The type more or less replaced the Triple Seven, although that type is still going to appear occasionally this winter. The 777-200ER will replace the 787 next summer. The 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 are all scheduled to operate this route. This might reflect the lack of aircraft availability and 'slotting in' variants based on their availability. It is one of only six routes in the current month to see all three variants, although it's usually the case that one of the variants has very few flights, but they do exist. A Breakdown Of British Airways' 787 Flights To Madrid Credit: Robin Guess | Shutterstock Some seek out specific aircraft types or variants when choosing where or when to fly, and I do this when I can. As such, the following table summarizes the dates on which each piece of equipment is due to fly between Heathrow and Madrid. Occasionally, BA will switch the 787 for the A320 (or other narrowbody aircraft), which is the risk of it. However, Flightradar24 data shows that the 787 has appeared as scheduled so far. Month Dates For The 787-8 Dates For The 787-9 Dates For The 787-10 October 2026 28, 29, 31 November 2026 5, 28 11, 21, 23, 27, 30 7, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 29 December 2026 9, 10, 21, 24, 31 4, 11, 18, 19, 30 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 14, 16, 17, 20, 23, 26, 27, 28 January 2026 7, 14, 20, 21, 23, 29 1, 8, 9, 15, 16, 18 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 13, 17, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31 February 2027 4, 5, 11, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 28 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 27 March 2027 4, 8, 11, 18, 25 6, 7, 19, 27 1, 3, 5, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26 On all occasions, the widebody type is on BA460. This specific flight is set to leave Heathrow at either 8:45 AM or 8:50 AM, arriving in Spain's busiest airport at 12:15 PM or 12:20 PM local time. The return is on BA461. This departs at 1:55 PM or 2:00 PM and gets back to the UK at 3:20 PM or 3:25 PM local time.