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).

London Heathrow to Sydney: £1,702 business, £3,452 first

London Heathrow to Johannesburg: £1,239 business, £2,099 first

London Heathrow to Mumbai: £1,160 business, £2,210 first

New York to Abu Dhabi: $4,080 business, $6,110 first

New York to Johannesburg: $4,417 business, $6,357 first

Frankfurt to Sydney: €1,678 business, €3,678 first

Frankfurt to Johannesburg: €1,355 business, €2,605 first

Frankfurt to New Delhi: €1,340 business, €2,390 first

The Frankfurt – Sydney business class fare looks an excellent deal at under €1,700.

Etihad are also offering 2,500 bonus Guest miles for booking online. They are not part of the three major alliances.

.

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.