British Airways coronavirus flight changes – an update as of Monday 24th February

I thought it was worth an update on the current changes to the British Airways flight schedules due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The good news is that there are now plans to put Beijing and Shanghai back on the schedule during April, although it is would foolish to see these flights as anything more than tentative at this stage.

Here the changes by route:

Shanghai:

All flights cancelled until 17th April

From 18th April to 31st May, British Airways will operate three flights per week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday

From 1st June, the standard 10 flights per week service will resume

If you are booked to fly to Shanghai before 1st June, British Airways will refund your flight or rebook you on a later flight, up to 1st August, at your request.  You may also change to a Hong Kong flight although BA will not pay to get you into China.  Rebooking on selected other airlines is also available.

Beijing:

All flights cancelled until 17th April

From 19th April to 31st May, British Airways will operate four flights per week on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

From 1st June, the standard daily service will resume

If you are booked to fly to Beijing before 1st June, British Airways will refund your flight or rebook you on a later flight, up to 1st August, at your request.  You may also change to a Hong Kong flight although BA will not pay to get you into China.  Rebooking on selected other airlines is also available.

Hong Kong:

British Airways will continue to operate just one daily flight, instead of two, until 1st June.

If you are booked to fly to Hong Kong before 1st June, British Airways will refund your flight or rebook you on a later flight, up to 1st August, at your request.

Singapore:

Flights continue as usual but the A380 service has been withdrawn on some dates and replaced by a smaller Boeing 777

Seoul:

No changes have been announced yet despite the recent spike in coronavirus cases.  It is possible that the Foreign Office will advise against travel in the next few days in which case BA will have little choice but to suspend services.

And nearer to home ….

Italy:

No changes to services so far despite 11 towns being placed in lockdown over the weekend

Remember that many countries are refusing or restricting entry to anyone who has visited China, Hong Kong and/or Macau in the past 14 days.   Seek additional advice if this applies to you.  The list includes (taken from the BA Travel Trade page linked below):

• Antigua
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Hong Kong
• India
• Israel
• Japan
• Korea
• Kuwait
• Maldives
• Mauritius
• New Zealand
• Philippines
• Qatar
• Seychelles
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Trinidad and Tobago

The aircraft removed from these routes are being used to operate additional flights to Miami, Seattle and Cape Town, as we covered in this Head for Points article.

The special advisories page of ba.com is here and has the latest information.  However, changes are usually published first on the BA Travel Trade pages here.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)