British Airways Is Back in Sri Lanka: The First Gatwick to Colombo Flight Lands After 10 Years
BA2045 touched down at Bandaranaike airport on Saturday morning, ending a decade without a British Airways service. Here are the days, times, cabins and launch fares for the winter route.
Saturday, October 24, 2026/2 min read
A Boeing 777 with a Union Jack on its tail rolled in to Bandaranaike International Airport on Saturday morning, and British Airways was back in Sri Lanka. The inaugural BA2045 from London Gatwick arrived at Katunayake on 24 October, according to Newswire, the airline's first scheduled service to the island in about a decade.
Sources disagree on the length of the gap. Hiru News gave 11 years in its headline and around 10 in its text, and RusTourismNews said 11. Either way, it is a long absence for a market where the UK is one of Sri Lanka's key tourist sources.
What is the British Airways Gatwick to Colombo schedule?
Three flights a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Hiru News listed BA2045 leaving Gatwick at 4:40 p.m. and arriving in Colombo at 8:35 a.m. the next day, with BA2044 leaving Colombo at 10:35 a.m. and reaching Gatwick at 5:00 p.m. Other outlets quote slightly different clock times, so check your booking before you travel.
The service is seasonal and runs through the winter schedule. RusTourismNews placed it inside British Airways' winter 2026-27 expansion, which also adds frequencies to Cape Town, Tokyo Haneda and Barbados.
Which aircraft and cabins will fly the route?
Newswire said the inaugural used a Boeing 777-200ER, with economy, premium economy and business class on sale. In British Airways' branding those are World Traveller, World Traveller Plus and Club World, the same names RusTourismNews used when it previewed the launch on 21 October.
In Sri Lanka, Advantis Aviation Services, part of the Hayleys Group, is British Airways' general sales agent, as Newswire and Aviation Voice both noted.
How much are tickets?
RusTourismNews said return fares were advertised from 620 pounds including taxes and carrier charges. It stressed these were introductory published fares released in March and may not be available on every date, so treat the figure as a ceiling on optimism rather than a promise.
Why does the return matter for travellers?
For anyone flying between Britain and Sri Lanka, a nonstop option removes a connection in the Gulf or elsewhere, and it gives the diaspora and business travellers another way to go. Aviation Voice said the return should strengthen air links with a key tourism market and benefit tourists, business travellers and the Sri Lankan diaspora.
The timings suit leisure travellers. The outbound flight leaves Gatwick in the afternoon and lands the next morning, so a full day is ahead on arrival, while the return leaves Colombo mid-morning and reaches Gatwick the same afternoon. Newswire added that the route should help business travel and trade, not only tourism.
Colombo is the gateway for beaches around Negombo, Bentota and Galle, and for inland trips to Kandy and the tea country, and winter is the popular season for the south and west coasts. As with all new routes, the real verdict comes in the load factors over the next few months.
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