Some flights on longhaul are operating with no passengers or cabin crew. This is due to unavailability of cabin crew due to a miscalculation of part time contracts. It seems ridiculous but too many of them were given part time in one go, or too many were offered the same week off, and the company have found themselves short on some days.
The flights still operate with the max payload of cargo, up to 25 tonnes on a 747, and are making sure the return flight is in the right place to keep the schedule going. Yes it is unfortunate, and someone's head should roll in cabin crew scheduling, but it's better than cancelling both legs.
BMED flew an aircraft empty every day to cardiff last season just to keep open a slot, no-one kicked up such a fuss. It's the typical British tall poppy sydrome, have a go at the big boy, who by the way is still on course for a year end profit of close to £1 Billion
If you were wanting to get back from your holidays you might be glad BA still bothered to operate a service at a loss, just to have the plane ready to take you home. I call that customer service, can you imagine Ryanair bothering?
Yes it may be a waste of fuel, but that is a debate for the airline industry as a whole. Why should Roman or a rich Saudi Prince be allowed to pollute the atmosphere with an A380 just for their benefit. Greenpeace and ITN, go and knock on their door and see what response you get....