Hong Kong to Bangkok is an important flight route with many fifth freedom options. There are about 130 non-stop services flying each week on this particular Asian route, with the 1,050 mile flight taking around 3 hours.

The following airlines currently serve the route between Hong Kong airport (HKG) and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport (BKK):

Cathay Pacific – The Hong Kong based airline and Oneworld carrier flies 6x daily between HKG and BKK using a mix of Boeing 777s, Airbus A330s and Boeing 747s.

Thai Airways – The Thai national carrier (Star Alliance) flies 5x daily using its new Airbus A380 and Boeing 747s.

Hong Kong Airlines  – Flies 3x daily with Airbus A330s. Prices tend to be lower than Cathay and Thai.

Hong Kong-Bangkok Fifth Freedom Flights: In addition to Thai and Hong Kong based airlines, there are many other international carriers that have rights to serve the route. These should be considered as they often undercut the national carriers and can offer cheap premium class airfares on wide-body aircraft.

Emirates – The Gulf airline has competitive pricing in all classes for its daily flight between Hong Kong and Bangkok using an Airbus A380. For a business class return ex-HKG expect to pay around £375/US$590 – this often undercuts economy fares from Cathay and Thai. Or experience first class on Emirates A380 for £675/US$1,060 return.

Ethiopian Airlines – The Star Alliance carrier flies 5x weekly using a Boeing 767 aircraft. Offers some of the cheapest economy airfares on the route with returns often around the £190/$295 level.

Royal Jordanian – The Jordan-based Oneworld airline flies 4-x-weekly between Hong Kong and Bangkok using an Airbus A330.

Sri Lankan – Sri Lanka’s national carrier flies non-stop 3x weekly using either Airbus A330s or A340s. Business class returns start at a bargain £225/US$350.

Kenya Airways – The Skyteam carrier flies 3x weekly using a Boeing 777 and offers competitive economy and business fares.

Pakistan International Airlines – PIA flies 2x weekly using an older series Airbus A310.

Air Asia – The budget airline flies twice daily between Hong Kong (HKG) and Bangkok’s old international airport, Don Mueang (DMK). Note, Air Asia uses a narrow body Airbus A320.

Let’s take a quick review of what is available long-haul in business class from London for under £2,000 return. Why £2,000? It provides a rough benchmark level of reasonable value for business class. Obviously the value quotient varies depending on airline and aircraft, the length of flight and whether a stopover needs to be made.

1. British Airways is running an ex-UK “The World is on Sale” which is bookable until 22 January 13. Prices have been lower in previous years and there are only a few standout fares.

Club World flight returns under the £2k mark are Orlando and Tampa (£1,701), Antigua (£1,894), Bermuda (£1,898), Bridgetown (£1,598), Cancun (£1,594), Grenada (£1,594), Kingston (£998), Port of Spain (£1,799), Punta Cana (£1,893), San Juan (£1,599), St Kitts (£1,897), St Lucia (1,598) and Tobago (£1,895). These are all leisure flights operating from London Gatwick – the standout fare is £998 to Kingston, Jamaica – note availability is showing for Sep-Nov 2013 with a £1,098 fare open for Apr-Jun 2013.

Other sub-£2k fares elsewhere are Abu Dhabi (£1,699), Bahrain (£1,799), Doha (£1,799), Dubai (£1,699), Jeddah (£1,499), Muscat (£1,699), Riyadh (£1,499), Almaty (£1,726), Bengaluru (£1,858), Chennai (£1,759), Hyderabad (£1,659), Mumbai (£1,799), New Delhi (£1,889). For the Far-East there is Bangkok (£1,999) and the relatively new Seoul route (£1,818). Note that in Nov 2012 BA had an introductory Club World offer of £777  return to Seoul!

2. Virgin Atlantic has similar fares to BA on any overlapping routes. These can also be booked by 22 January.

3. Etihad has a Pearl Business Class sale fare to Hong Kong for £1,979, ex London Heathrow – bookable before 18 February 13. Flights are via Abu Dhabi.

4. Gulf heavyweight Emirates is offering a number of sub £2k fares from London Gatwick including in Africa: Addis Ababa (£1,924), Dar Es Salaam (£1,970), Entebbe (£1,944), Harare (£1,971), Jo’burg (£1,980), Khartoum (£1,913), Lagos (£1,952), Luanda (£1,960) and Nairobi (£1,965). Flights to Asia are Ahmedabad (£1,799), Bangkok (£1,943), Beijing (£1,987), Bengaluru (£1,805), Chennai (£1,794), Cochin (£1,794), Delhi (£1,838), Dhaka (£1,823), Guangzhou (£1,987), Ho Chi Minh Cith (£1,939), Hong Kong (£1,988), Hyderabad (£1,815), Islamabad (£1,825), Jakarta (£1,950), Karachi (£1,943), Kolkata (£1,794), Kuala Lumpur (£1,963), Lahore (£1,825), Manila (£1,950), Mumbai (£1,802), Osaka (£1,997), Peshawar (£1,825), Phuket (£1,943), Seoul (£1,995), Shanghai (£1,987),  Singapore (£1,968), Trivandrum (£1,800) and Tokyo (£1,996). Flights are via Dubai, note business class seats can vary over Emirates’ regional fleet. Book by 28 February 13.

5. Star Alliance’s Lufthansa has the folowing business class offers with flights via Frankfurt or Munich: Abuja (£1,949), Addis Ababa (£1,469), Asmara (£1,879), Lagos (£1,949), Almaty (£1,829), Astana (£1,829), Baku (£1,259), Singapore (£1,969),  Beijing/Nanjing/Shanghai (£1,909), Bengaluru (£1,899), Chennai (£1,879), New Delhi (£1,549), Mumbai (£1,529), Pune (£1,729), Abu Dhabi (£1,839), Amman (£1,389), Bahrain (£1,689), Dammam (£1,579),  Doha (£1,879), Dubai (£1,739), Jeddah (£1,879), Khartoum (£1,729), Kuwait (£1,779), Muscat (£1,679), Riyadh (£1,879) and Tehran (£1,489).

6. Finnair usually has some sharp deals to Asia. Its business class sale ends today (17 January 13) and you can find Delhi (£1,399), Chongqing (£1,529), Hanoi (£1,575) and Bangkok (£1,599). A change of aircraft in Helsinki is required.

7. EVA Air is offering a London-Bangkok in business class for £1,804, book by 31 January 13.

8. Qatar Airways has the following business class fares, bookable by 14 February 13: Mumbai (£1,735), Bangkok (£1,880), Kuala Lumpur (£1,900), Singapore (£1,905) and Beijing/Hong Kong (£1,930).

The above published fares are bookable at each airline’s website.

Using an online agent you may find some cheaper fares on more exotic and obscure airlines but do watch transit times. For example, cheaper London-Hong Kong business class fares can be found from Royal Brunei Airlines (around £1,630) and Aeroflot (£1,750). Note Royal Brunei is a dry airline and the flight has a fuel stop in Dubai and then an almost 24 hour wait in Brunei; the Aeroflot flight has a 14 hour wait outbound in Moscow.

British Airways is offering some very cheap Club World deals from London for dates in July, August and September 2012.

We are seeing some of the lowest ex-UK business class prices to North America for some time. The fares are non-refundable and are bookable to 14th June with travel between 21st July and 2nd September 2012. A Saturday night stay is required.

London-New York is priced at £1,200 return – travel is also possible on the BA A318 service from London City which makes an outbound stop in Shannon. Prices on the London-New York route have so far been matched in business class by American and Delta. Expect others to do so.

Some even cheaper Club fares on offer are Miami (£955), Montreal/Toronto (£1,019), Philadelphia/Washington DC (£1,070), Atlanta (£1,180), west-coast Vancouver/Calgary (£1,189).

First class return fares are on offer as well with Toronto (£2,017), Philadelphia/Washington DC (£2,068), Miami (£2,098), Atlanta (£2,178), Vancouver (£2,187)  and New York (£2,198).

These sale fares apply worldwide – the other great stand-out Club fares are Chennai (£955) and Bangkok (£1,299).

So for those who are looking at booking a summer break or want to get out of town during the London Olympics (27th July to 12th August), then this is a great opportunity to do so.

Scoot is offering a AUD199 one-way “Fly” fare from Sydney and Gold Coast to Singapore. Returns are priced at just over AUD400. Note that we found booking a separate one way out of Singapore was actually cheaper (equivalent to about AUD150 vs the AUD203 when booked as an ex-Australia return leg – though be aware of your credit card forex fees).

Scoot is a budget carrier and its Fly fare includes no frills – only 7kg of hand luggage is allowed. You will pay around AUD22 per flight extra for a “FlyBag” fare which offers 15kg of checked luggage. Add an additional AUD13 for a “FlyBagEat” fare which gives you meals and drinks on board.

Scoot will use Boeing 777-200ER aircraft (ex-Singapore Airlines) which can carry up to 402 passengers. The economy cabin will be the tighter 10 abreast 3-4-3 configuration with 31″ seat pitch. Extra legroom seats (35″ pitch) by exits will be available at extra charge, as will pre-assigned seating choice.

There will also be a ScootBiz cabin (essentially premium economy Zim leather recliner seating of 38″ pitch, 22″ width in a 2-4-2 config). ScootBiz will include seat selection, a dedicated check-in counter, priority boarding, meals and drinks, an iPad for in-flight entertainment, 20kg checked luggage plus 15kg carry-on allowance and in-seat power. ScootBiz fares are priced at around AUD600 each way though some dates are showing a AUD499 limited special offer.

Scoot will fly from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2. Scoot plans to expand its fleet of aircraft from 4 to 15 by 2015 with plans to serve New Zealand, Asia and possibly the Middle East and Europe. However, with competitor Air Asia X (which flies Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Gold Coast) having pulled its longer flights to Europe and New Zealand, it remains to be seen whether the budget long-haul concept can work economically in the light of high oil prices and increasing flight taxes.

Scoot’s arrival on the scene should ensure some competitive fares on similar routes – keep a watch for Air Asia X and Jetstar sale fares.

Scoot sale fare are available until April 9th 2012. Note that flights are subject to regulatory approval.