Mumbai €1,512
Singapore €1,522
Bangkok €1,572
Kuala Lumpur €1,618

Note, departures must be made in August. Book before 31st July.

The Singapore fare is the standout here, though nothing spectacular. We do recall an Etihad Pearl business class fare from Brussels to Sydney for €1,575 in 2009.

Alternative: Air Asia X flies out of Paris Orly to Kuala Lumpur non-stop using an Airbus A340. It sells business class seats from around €1,450 return – although you don’t get the lounge access, premium catering and service etc.

Trade body IATA recently remarked that Euro airlines would lose a combined $2.8 bn this year making them the world’s worst performers in the airline market.

Today British Airways has announced a premium class sale for flights ex-UK, their first big offer in a few months. Prices are generally higher than previous years – but here are the highlight offers (return prices all-in):

Club Europe (fly Jun 10 – Dec 31)
Bordeaux £209
Rome (Fiumicino) £249

Middle East (fly Jul 8 – Oct 31)
Tel Aviv £879
Cairo £899
Doha £1,199
Muscat £1,199
Abu Dhabi £1,409

India (fly Jul 8 – Oct 31)
Bangalore £1,299
Delhi £1,299
Mumbai £1,399

USA (fly Jul 8 – Aug 31)
New York (Newark) £1,499 (£2497 First)
Orlando £1,599
Los Angeles £1,999

Asia/Australia (fly Jul 8 – Aug 31)
Bangkok £1,999
Singapore £1,999
Sydney £2,799

The ex-UK BA sale runs until July 6th.

BA ex-Europe offers

If you are based in Europe BA is still running its generous offer – book 1 Club World return or 4 Club Europe returns and get instant Silver status. On top of that they are also giving away bonus miles: 5-10k  per Club Europe return and 25-35k for a Club World return, depending on which country you live in. This offer expires Jun 30 – you need to register.

Belgium residents: book a Club World return with BA, get a free upgrade to First on one leg. Book by Jun 30, travel by Sep 5. This cannot be booked online – only via agents or phoning +32(0)2 717 3217.

Other UK Business Class Offers

As an alternative to BA you can always get a quote on Virgin Atlantic – who are already matching BA’s sale fares where their network overlaps.

Emirates has been running biz class companion fare deals (ends today Jun 10) with various far east Asian destinations (including Japan, China, Singapore) at under £2,100.

Air New Zealand has a business fare to Hong Kong for £2,099 – travel between Jul 1 and Sep 3, book by Jun 15.

Qantas has also started a business sale (matching BA) – with Bangkok and Singapore at £1,999 and Sydney at £2,799. Travel between Jul 15 and Aug 31, book by Jul 6.

Net Flights have the following business class offers from London (for June travel):

New York £1,431 with Swiss via Geneva
Bangkok £1,260 – BA to Amsterdam, China Airlines AMS to BKK
Bangkok £1,554 with Thai
Sydney £1,969 with China Airlines via Taipei

Air France will be operating its Airbus A380 between Paris CDG and London Heathrow this summer. You can try out business class on the big bird from £280 return (economy from £80 return). Flights run between Jun 12 and Aug 30 as follows:

Paris to London: AF1980 (departs 10:05)
London to Paris: AF1981 (departs 12:50)

Fare levels are not as low as some previous sale offers, but here’s a look at some standout fares. You might also check with Virgin Atlantic who normally match BA sale fares on overlapping routes.

BA Club World Offers – note, various travel dates apply.

Montego Bay £1,099
Doha £1,199
Muscat £1,199
Male £1,299
Bangalore £1,299
Delhi £1,299
Mumbai £1,399
Tampa £1,349
Orlando £1,349
Antigua £1,399
Barbados £1,399
Tobago £1,399
St Lucia £1,399
Montreal £1,549
Sydney £2,799

For completeness let’s take a quick look at current business class offers from various airlines for ex-London long-haul flights.

Lufthansa offers a business class trip deal to Johannesburg (via Frankfurt) for £1,419 for early April. If you are up for a trip to Cairo then fellow Star Alliance member EgyptAir will get you to Jo’burg for £1,215 in business  – fare bookable on Netflights.

Oneworld’s Finnair can get you to Beijing and Shanghai in business class from London via Helsinki for £1,685. Hong Kong is also available, at £1,689.

Etihad has a few decent Pearl Business Class offers from London Heathrow via Abu Dhabi – bookable by Feb 1st:

Delhi £1,199
Bangkok £1,329 (£1,281 on Netflights)
Jakarta £1,679
Sydney £2,899

Emirates has the following companion fare business class deals available (2 people must book together) via Dubai – available until Feb 1st:

Johannesburg  £1,648
Mauritius £1,649
Seychelles £1,653
Christchurch £2,739

You can fly with China Airlines business class via Taipei to Sydney from London from £1,713 via Netflights. China Airlines use Airbus A340 and A330s for this route.

Australian carrier Qantas has special offer business class deals to various Aussie / Kiwi cities from London. Travel is up to 13th December, book by 30th June.

Prices are:

Perth £1,990
Melbourne £1,991
Adelaide £1,998
Sydney £1,999
Brisbane £2,001
Christchurch £2,089
Wellington £2,089
Auckland £2,099

It is possible to fly on the QF A380 via Singapore. Some flights are code-shares operated by partner British Airways. The flight is bookable at the Qantas website but we found cheaper fares on Netflights (£1,938 to SYD, £2,041 to AKL). Note, (1) these are non-changeable / non-refundable fares and (2) these don’t seem to be available on ba.com.

Emirates has an exceptional 2-for-1 business class offer from the UK to Australia / NZ (and other worldwide destinations). Note – you have to fly from Birmingham BHX with a companion. Prices are:

Perth £1,565
Melbourne £1,566
Sydney £1,574
Brisbane £1,575
Christchurch £1,587
Auckland £1,597 (£1,549 on Netflights)

These are excellent prices, some of the lowest business fares Down Under for a while. You must book by 10th June using promo code UKBHX21, outbound travel by 30th November.

This companion offer also has fares to Asia and South Africa at around the £900 mark.

You get a complimentary chauffeur as long as both passengers are collected from the same address. Changes are permitted (for a charge) as is a free stopover in Dubai.

You could fly on the EK A380 on some sectors – currently utilised on daily flights Dubai to Sydney/Auckland (EK 412/413). Also EK 372/373 Dubai – Bangkok if you’re heading to BKK.

Cathay Pacific are selling business class flights to both Australia and New Zealand for sub £2k. This seems to be a reaction to the Qantas sale. Prices:

Sydney £1,980
Melbourne £1,972
Adelaide £1,978
Perth £1,970
Brisbane £1,981
Auckland £1,990

Book by June 30th, some changes are allowed for a fee.

If you are considering Qantas or Cathay and are not 100% sure of your travel plans then it would probably make sense to go with the slightly more flexible Cathay fares.

We found lower fares on some agents, for example Netflights / Travelocity had Cathay flights to Sydney for £1,870 – however no changes or refunds are allowed!

Tip: Always understand the terms / conditions of your ticket before booking with an airline and especially an agent.

Finally, Travelocity is selling Singapore Airlines business fares to Sydney in July for as low as £1,926 (Perth £1,947). Travelocity also has Etihad flights to Sydney for £1,938 (via Abu Dhabi).