British Airways returns to Melbourne in January 2027, via Kuala Lumpur

British Airways is going back to Melbourne for the first time since 2006. The new daily route, announced on March 17, 2026, connects Melbourne and London Heathrow with a stop in Kuala Lumpur. It will be BA's second route in Australia, alongside Sydney.

Here is the schedule, what the plane is like, and what we know about lounges.

The schedule

The flight runs every day, all year. Flight BA33 starts from London. Flight BA34 starts from Melbourne.

London to Melbourne (BA33), starting January 9, 2027:

• Leaves Heathrow at 9:10 p.m.
• Lands in Kuala Lumpur at 6:05 p.m. the next day
• Leaves Kuala Lumpur at 7:45 p.m.
• Lands in Melbourne at 6:40 a.m., two days after leaving London

Melbourne to London (BA34), starting January 11, 2027:

• Leaves Melbourne at 4:35 p.m.
• Lands in Kuala Lumpur at 9:35 p.m.
• Leaves Kuala Lumpur at 11:15 p.m.
• Lands at Heathrow at 5:20 a.m. the next morning

The first flight from London leaves two days before the first one from Melbourne. That's because the outbound trip takes about a day and a half. BA also says the start date is timed for the Australian Open and the Melbourne Grand Prix.

The plane and the fares

BA will fly the route with the Boeing 787. It has four cabins:

• First
• Club World (business class, with lie-flat seats)
• World Traveller Plus (premium economy)
• World Traveller (economy)

BA says return fares from Melbourne start at AU$1,960. Tickets went on sale on March 17, 2026. BA has not said whether you can buy only the Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne leg.

Lounges

BA has not said which lounges its passengers will use in Melbourne or Kuala Lumpur. BA does not run its own lounge in either city, so we'll update this story once the airline confirms where its passengers can wait.

At Heathrow, most BA long-haul flights leave from Terminal 5. Your lounge depends on your ticket and status:

• Concorde Room: for First passengers
• Galleries First: for BA Gold members and oneworld Emerald members
• Galleries Club lounges: for Club World passengers, BA Silver members and oneworld Sapphire members

The return flight lands at Heathrow at 5:20 a.m. after a very long trip. If you're flying First or Club World, the T5 Arrivals lounge has showers and breakfast. BA plans to rebuild it by the end of 2027. We covered that plan separately.

More flights to Asia

The same announcement included other changes in Asia:

• Tokyo Haneda went to twice-daily flights from the end of March 2026 and stays that way all winter.
• Bangkok and Singapore got seven extra return flights in March, while flights to the Middle East were disrupted. BA said this added more than 3,300 seats.

BA also confirmed Colombo, Sri Lanka, as a new winter route from London Gatwick. Our winter schedule story has the details. See every BA lounge on our British Airways page.