London Heathrow is on a roll. Europe's busiest airport for international departures is adding seven new long-haul routes across Asia, North America and Australia — and several of them open up destinations Londoners have never been able to reach nonstop from the airport before.
The headline news for Australia fans: British Airways is returning to Melbourne after two decades away. From January 2027, the airline will fly daily to Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur on a Boeing 787-9, its second Australian destination alongside Sydney. Qantas is jumping in too, launching daily one-stop flights to London via Perth from October 2026, also on the 787-9 — so Melbourne-London travellers will have two carriers to choose from.
Thailand is the other big draw. Virgin Atlantic starts a three-times-weekly Heathrow to Phuket service on 18 October, the first time the beach hotspot has ever been linked to Heathrow. TUI already flies there from Gatwick, but Virgin's 787-9 gives Heathrow passengers a direct option for the first time.
Closer to nature, British Airways moves its San Jose, Costa Rica route from Gatwick to Heathrow from 25 October, flying up to five times a week on the 787-8 — handy for anyone heading to the rainforests and volcanoes. The same aircraft type is also flying Heathrow's new St. Louis service, launched in April as the first-ever nonstop from the airport to the Missouri city, stepping up to daily next year.
Two returning carriers round out the list. Pakistan International Airlines is back at Heathrow after its post-pandemic absence, flying 777-200ERs to Lahore twice weekly and Islamabad up to five times weekly, following the lifting of the safety ban on the carrier in 2025. And China's XiamenAir has launched its first regular Xiamen to London link, three times a week on the 787-9.
For travellers, the practical upshot is more choice and fewer connections. Australia gets genuinely competitive again on the Kangaroo Route, Phuket becomes reachable without a Gatwick schlep or a Middle East stopover you didn't choose, and Costa Rica — long underserved from the UK — gets a bigger Heathrow operation. If any of these destinations have been sitting on your list, the flights to make them happen are now bookable.
