Originally Posted by
Chris Bell
As far as I am aware however (and happy to be corrected), BA do have a duty of care to get me back home within a reasonable timeframe (few hours) of my original flight time - even if this means putting me on flights operated by an entirely different airline (even outside of the OneWorld alliance).
You may be being over-optimistic here. BA's already offering to get you back to London well within 24 hours of your original arrival time, and there would be no difficulty moving your DXB-LHR flight forward by 24 hours if you prefer that to it being moved back.
Airlines will often do more than their legal obligations either out of goodwill or just to get the passenger moving on the day (which is why airports on the day have more flexibility than call centres) - but it looks like your flights are not until May/June 2022 and this gives you plenty of time to sort out alternatives. In part, you seem to be boxed in because you haven't left much margin for error between the end of your first trip (DXB-LHR) and the start of your second, and even outside pandemic conditions flight schedules are liable to change when your booking is so far away.