British Airways has confirmed that flights to Colombo in Sri Lanka will cease to be operated after March next year.
The airline will operate a service from London to Colombo and Male until March 28 2015, and while services to Male will recommence for winter, “services to Colombo will unfortunately be cancelled”, it said in a statement.
Customers who have booked the route with British Airways will be offered a full refund.
“We are also seeking solutions to assist as many customers as possible in making alternative travel arrangements,” the airline’s statement continued.
It also advised customers who have booked through a travel agent or a third party to contact them direct.
“We would like to apologise to the customers affected by these changes and we would like to thank the airport authorities, local government, tourist organisations and people of Sri Lanka for their support,” the statement concluded.
The announcement came not long after the airline announced a return of its Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur flight from May 27 2015, a destination that it hasn’t operated to since 2001.
New routes from London Gatwick to Seville in Spain, Funchal in Madeira and Las Palmas in Gran Canaria have also been confirmed for its 2015 schedule.
The routes are now available to book and flights will begin from March of next year.
From December this year, British Airways will fly to new winter sun and ski destinations including Fuerteventura, Friedrichshafen in Germany and Grenoble in France.
Colm Lacy, British Airways’ head of commercial for Gatwick, said: “In addition to the new routes, we are also responding to customer demand and now offer our customers day-trip and hand baggage only fares starting from £39 each-way, based on a return fare.