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).

Fares are ex- London Heathrow, for travel April 4th to August 31st (book at least 14 days in advance with QF, 28 days on BA). Sale ends March 25th.

Qantas is allowing a stopover in Asia (Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong) each way. You can also find some flights on the Airbus A380 which flies out of London 3 days a week currently.

The business fare to Sydney via Asia both ways should earn 560 QFF Status Credits or 480 BA Tier Points. (A straight LON-SYD ticket would earn less – 480 SCs or 440 TPs).

Qantas also has First Class fares at £2,999 return (this would earn 840 SCs via Asia, enough for QFF Gold status; or 720 BA TPs, almost enough for BA Gold for Euro based flyers).

Unfortunately for Australians coming the other way there are no similar priced discount offers.

Qantas also has London to Auckland via Los Angeles (with BA) for £549 for May departures. This is pricing on some dates on Expedia Australia at AU$1,025 (which is equivalent of £470 – an awesome fare). Both sale fares are bookable to 21 Jan 09.

Cathay Pacific has a sale fare of £599 from London to Auckland, Brisbane or Melbourne. One stop is permitted in Hong Kong, travel 20 Apr 09 to 11 Jun 09, book by 21 Jan 09.

Alternatively Air New Zealand has a £632 fare from London to Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch. Travel is RTW via Hong Kong and Los Angeles, no stopovers permitted, valid 20 Apr 09 to 11 Jun 09, book by 21 Jan 09. Note, this fare earns Air NZ AirPoints but no miles on other Star Alliance programs.

Prices for a Sydney – Los Angeles return are AUD 1,159 all in; Melbourne – Los Angeles is cheaper at AUD 1,119 via a Virgin Blue domestic service to Sydney. Travel is for 1 Mar 09 to 31 may 09, book by 12 Jan 09.

Note V Australia did have to postpone its launch from last year after a strike at Boeing – hopefully the service will get up and running bringing some much needed competition to the route.

The other major carriers are almost matching V Australia’s fares.

Star Alliance’s Air New Zealand are offering SYD to LAX via Auckland from AUD 1,147 – and with decent 34″ seat pitch in economy this also looks a good deal. Fellow Star carrier United has flights from Melbourne and Sydney to Los Angeles for just over AUD 1,200 – but the lowest fares seem to connect through San Francisco.

Qantas currently has Sydney – Los Angeles available for AUD 1,211, with Melbourne – LAX for AUS 1,145. Travel 01 Mar 09 to 31 May 09. This could be of use to Qantas Frequent Flyers who need a Status Credit run. And you can choose to fly on the Airbus A380.

British Airways is offering a return to Sydney for £699 (16 Apr 09 to 15 Jun 09, book by 27 Jan 09) as part of its worldwide fare sale. Upgrades to WT+ available for £319 one-way.

Qantas is offering flights to Perth for £638, Melbourne (£690), Adelaide (£698), Darwin (£698), Sydney (£699) and Cairns (£700). (Travel 16 Apr 09 to 15 Jun 09, book by 27 Jan 09).

Emirates is pretty much matching those fares with Sydney (£696), Melbourne (£691), Brisbane (£700) and Perth (£638) available (10 Apr 09 to 10 Jul 09, book by 05 Feb 09). We also found some EK fares to Sydney on agent sites Travelocity and Opodo for £687.

Etihad has a London – Melbourne fare currently bookable for £705 and ex-Manchester for £711. Travel dates 28 Mar 09 – 02 Apr 09 and 20 Apr 09 – 15 Jun 09.

Singapore Airlines is offering fares to Sydney for £693 return via Singapore – and you can fly on the Airbus A380 all the way if you choose.

Cathay Pacific has some limited fares to Sydney in April available for £697, Virgin Atlantic also has fares under £700.

Alternatively you could also check out Air Asia X’s promo fares. London Stansted to Kuala Lumpur is available from £249 one way and onward (separate) bookings from KUL to Australia are priced as follows: Perth (from £73), Gold Coast (from £121) and Melbourne (from £125), prices all one way. Book by 18 Jan 09, travel from 11 Mar 09 – 30 Jun 09. Check our article for more info: Air Asia X

Australia is a brilliant destination for travellers and now is a great time to grab a deal.