British Airways is permanently cutting its service to Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, and Osaka, and suspending Sydney and Bangkok flights until November 2021.

Sure to be a point of distress for British expats in Malaysia, and for the many Malaysians living in the UK, there will soon be one less nonstop option between London and Kuala Lumpur.

British Airways (BA) recently announced that it is removing Kuala Lumpur from its route network, with effect following the last flight on March 28, 2021.

The Kuala Lumpur–London route was temporarily suspended for six months in 2020 due to the evolving pandemic; however, it has been back in operation a couple of times per week since October.

This isn’t the first time BA has cut the Malaysian capital from its route list. The airline previously had a 14-year gap in service on the route, having eliminated it in 2001. They then reinstated service to KL with their four-class Boeing 777-200ERs in March 2015. That aircraft was switched to the Boeing 787-9 with newer BA cabin products just a few months later, in December 2015.

BA’s full list of permanent route cuts, with most taking effect from late March 2021, is as follows:

• Abu Dhabi (AUH)
• Calgary (YYC)
• Charleston (CHS)
• Dammam (DMM)
• Durban (DUR)
• Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
• Jeddah (JED)
• Lima (LIM)
• Muscat (MCT)
• Osaka (KIX)
• Pittsburgh (PIT)
• Seoul (ICN)
• Seychelles (SEZ)

The Jeddah route will resume briefly for Hajj flights in July 2021, and Seychelles will see its last BA service on April 24, 2021.

With the elimination of the LHR-KUL service by BA, the sole remaining nonstop option between the two capital cities will be with beleaguered Malaysia Airlines.

With Malaysia’s struggling national carrier expected to announce its own restructuring plans in the coming weeks, could we potentially have a post-Covid world with no nonstop flights connecting London to Kuala Lumpur?

Cheerio, BA. We are sorry to see you go.