Nigerian carrier Air Peace has confirmed it will start flights from Abuja to Heathrow’s Terminal 3 on October 26, 2025. This service will supplement its existing operation at Gatwick but will add complexity and costs for the airline. "It will allow it to get a foothold at the airport it most desires," according to sources familiar with the matter.
Alaska Airlines announced Seattle-Heathrow flights on August 5. The new route is scheduled to begin in May 2026 with daily Boeing 787-9 service. Details about how Alaska Airlines acquired its Heathrow slots remain unclear.
Riyadh Air is expected to make Heathrow its first European—and possibly global—destination with daily flights from Riyadh starting in late October 2025 using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The slots for this operation reportedly come via British Airways through the bmi slot release process.
IndiGo’s entry has not been officially announced yet but is anticipated soon. It is believed that IndiGo will operate daily flights from Delhi using Boeing 787-9s starting in late October 2025. This would add further competition on the busy Delhi-Heathrow corridor—a market that saw more than 750,000 round-trip passengers in the year ending June 2025.
IndiGo’s potential launch comes despite current restrictions on flying over Pakistani airspace that increase travel time and costs between Delhi and London. The ban could be lifted by the time services commence; however, there is no certainty about when this might happen.
If IndiGo enters as expected, there would be eight daily non-stop flights between Heathrow and Delhi during winter 2025/26. Recent changes include Air Canada ending its Calgary-Heathrow-Delhi fifth freedom flight in March 2025 and Vistara (now merged with Air India) withdrawing last November.
For Alaska Airlines, Heathrow would become its third European destination after Rome and Keflavik. The airline recently confirmed Seattle-Rome as its first European route starting next May with four weekly flights. Keflavik was also announced as a new destination; this route will set a record as the longest commercial MAX flight operated by any US carrier.
Seattle-Rome had been Seattle’s largest unserved European market last year with approximately 43,000 round-trip passengers—a number driven largely by leisure travelers. While Alaska considered adding Barcelona as well, Delta launched service before it could enter that market.
The addition of these new long-haul operators reflects ongoing demand for access to London’s main international gateway and highlights continuing shifts among airlines competing for key routes into Europe’s busiest airports.
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