British Airways passengers travelling from George Town’s Owen Roberts International to London Heathrow faced a delay of more than 34 hours this week after the airline's onward service from Nassau was cancelled, leaving travellers stranded in The Bahamas until Wednesday.

Flight BA252, operated by aircraft G-VIIJ, a Boeing 777-236ER, first flown in 1997, departed Grand Cayman on the evening of Monday, July 13, and completed the short sector to Nassau without incident. The aircraft arrived 13 minutes ahead of schedule.

The disruption occurred when BA252’s scheduled Nassau–London Heathrow sector, due to depart Nassau at 22:05 local time on Monday, was cancelled following the aircraft’s arrival from Grand Cayman.

Passengers originating in Grand Cayman were accommodated in Nassau before departing on Wednesday, July 15, aboard the same aircraft, G-VIIJ, which operated to London Heathrow under the special designation BA9601. British Airways typically reserves four-digit flight numbers in the 9xxx series for non-scheduled operations, positioning flights, and urgent operational replacements that fall outside its published timetable.

BA9601 landed at London Heathrow at 22:33 local time on Wednesday. The scheduled Monday evening departure would ordinarily have arrived in London at approximately 11:40 local time on Tuesday, meaning passengers reached their destination more than 34 hours later than originally planned.

Flight analysis

Analysis of the flight data confirms that both the Grand Cayman–Nassau sector and the subsequent Nassau–London service operated within normal operational parameters. Throughout the Atlantic crossing, the aircraft remained within standard ETOPS requirements and maintained conventional long-haul cruise altitudes appropriate to the prevailing meteorological conditions. The flight profile shows no indications of any operational irregularities or abnormal aircraft performance.

By contrast, where an aircraft is subject to significant operational or technical limitations, those constraints are typically reflected in the flight profile. A recent example occurred on 8 July 2025, when a Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 operating an unpressurised ferry flight from Boston Logan to Frankfurt crossed the Atlantic at approximately 10,000 feet - around one-third of its normal cruising altitude. The aircraft had sustained fuselage damage from a ground-handling vehicle in Boston, rendering the cabin unpressurisable and necessitating the unusually low-altitude crossing. No comparable operating restrictions, abnormal altitude profile, or other indicators of technical limitation have been identified in relation to the British Airways flight.

A source at Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport told The Caymanian Journal that the delay was not the result of a technical fault with the aircraft.

Among those affected on the London-bound flight was Cayman Islands Minister for Finance and Economic Development and Minister for Education and Training, Rolston Anglin MP, who was travelling on the service.

Cause of cancellation

The reason for the cancellation has not been publicly confirmed. There has been speculation that the disruption may have been related to a crew availability issue, including an unconfirmed suggestion that a member of the flight crew may have been unavailable to operate the service. In such circumstances, regulatory requirements governing crew duty and rest periods can prevent an otherwise serviceable aircraft from operating if a legally compliant crew cannot be provided.

British Airways has not confirmed the cause of the cancellation. The Caymanian Journal requested comment from the airline on the disruption and its impact on passengers. It had not responded by the time of publication.