British Airways has announced the launch of direct flights to Melbourne from London Heathrow.
The new daily service will operate between Britain’s busiest airport and the Australian city from January 9 next year.
This will be in time for the 2027 Australian Open tennis tournament and Australian Grand Prix.
The flights will be an extension of British Airways' existing service to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The only Australian destination served by the carrier at present is Sydney via Singapore.
Qantas operates non-stop flights from Heathrow to Perth, but its flights in the opposite direction currently need a fuel stop in Singapore because of airspace restrictions in the Middle East.
British Airways announced it will operate three weekly return flights between Heathrow and Colombo, Sri Lanka from October 23.
It is also increasing its frequencies on a number of its long-haul routes, such as to Cape Town, South Africa; Tokyo, Japan; San Jose, Costa Rica; and New Orleans, USA.
Neil Chernoff, British Airways' chief planning and strategy officer, said: "We're delighted to announce sizeable growth to our flying schedule for winter 2026, including two notable new destinations that I'm confident will prove popular with our customers.
"We're also increasing services across several high-demand routes around the world.
"Together, these changes represent a significant investment in our long-haul leisure network, adding even more options and choice for our customers.
"Elsewhere, we know there is short-term demand as a result of the situation in the Middle East.
"To support customers with alternative routes from popular destinations, we have already launched additional flights, and we will continue to monitor customer demand and add flights to our schedule if we're able to do so."
