Etihad Business Class Sale: Almost Any Europe to India & Sri Lanka Connection at €1,506

Middle Eastern airline Etihad Airways is offering business class flights from European cities to almost any Indian destination for roughly €1,500. You can also reach cities in Colombo, Sri Lanka for the same price.

The fare includes 35 kilos of checked luggage, lounge access and mileage. You can also add a stopover in Abu Dhabi for a little extra. However, this great deal expires soon (June 28), so you don’t have much time left to think about it.

You can reach the following destinations (exemplary prices from Madrid):

• Delhi, India at €1,506
• Bengaluru, India at €1,506
• Thiruvananthapuram, India at €1,506
• Kozhikode, India at €1,506
• Kolkata, India at €1,506
• Mumbai, India at €1,506
• Kochi, India at €1,506
• Chennai, India at €1,506
• Hyderabad, India at €1,506
• Colombo, Sri Lanka at €1,506

Departures are possible from the following airports (exemplary prices to Delhi, India):

• Copenhagen at DKK 11,042 (~€1,479)
• Munich at €1,505
• Barcelona at €1,506
• Madrid at €1,506
• Rome at €1,506
• Milan at €1,506
• Amsterdam at €1,506
• Brussels at €1,506
• Frankfurt at €1,506
• Lisbon at €1,506
• Paris at €1,507
• …and more

Tickets departing from London are roughly €200 (~£169) more expensive than from mainland Europe.

Our availability will forward you to Etihad with your selected flight route and dates. You can also check what OTAs have to offer, as they sometimes sell these tickets up to €80 cheaper. You can find these low fares for flights for departures before February 2025.

Etihad Airways likes to switch airplanes on it’s flights to India, varying between jets with recliner seats and lie-flat-seats. As an example, the airline operates two daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Bangalore:

• EY 216/217 departs at 21:45 from AUH and at 04:20 from BLR. It is operated by a Boeing 787-9 with lie-flat seats
• EY 238/239 departs at 14:00 from AUH and 19:20 from BLR. It is operated by an Airbus A321 with recliner seats

That leaves you with the choice of arriving and departing in India in the middle of the night, or spending a good portion of your journey in a less desirable business class seat. To make matters worse, Etihad switched equipment on both flights several times in the past days.

Here is a list of the planned equipment on flights to India:

Etihad business class equipment to India:

The following airports receive a mixture of Lie-Flat and Recliner seats:

• Bangalore: Twice daily. 1 x Lie-Flat (787), 1 x Recliner (A321).
• Delhi: 4 x daily. 2 x Lie-Flat (777,787), 2x Recliner (A320)
• Hyderabad: Twice daily. 2 x Lie-Flat (787).
• Mumbai: 4 x daily. 2 x Lie-Flat (777,787), 2x Recliner (A320)

These airports only receive narrow body service:

• Chennai: Thrice daily. 3 x Recliner (A320,A321)
• Kochi: Thrice daily. 3 x Recliner (A320,A321)
• Kolkata: Once daily. Recliner (A320)
• Kozhikode: Once daily. Recliner (A320)
• Thiruvananthapuram: Once daily. Recliner (A320)

Flights from Europe to Abu Dhabi are operated by Eithad’s Boeing 787 fleet, except for the nighttime time rotation to Rome, which features Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Review: Etihad Business Studio in the Boeing 787

Search & Book

According to the fare rules, this fare is valid until July 5, 2024 for travel between July 2024 and February 2025. There is a minimum stay of 2 days and there’s a maximum stay of three months.

You can use our calendar above that will show you availabilities. Once you select your dates, it will forward you to either Etihad’s website or to Skyscanner with your preselected flight dates. With all its disadvantages, it may be worth it to book through online travel agencies (OTAs), since they offer prices of up to €85 cheaper.

You can also search more specifically on Google Flights (instructions) for example by setting filters. You can then use our Go2 browser extension to book your flights. The tool displays lower prices for flights from both Barcelona and Madrid to Delhi. However, prices rise when proceeding to Etihad’s website.

Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?

More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:

Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.

If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.

This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.

Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.

This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.

While we already showed you the most attractive options, you can find more offers on Etihad’s country specific landing pages:

• Belgium
• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Spain
• United Kingdom

Mileage

Etihad issues these tickets in booking class Z. This is what a trip from Madrid to Delhi, booked on Etihad’s website would earn you:

You can calculate your own earnings with the help of our mileage calculator. We also have a status calculator, which can help you decide which status should you aim for or which status does your next trip helps achieve. Or use our program mileage calculator that calculates your earnings based on your current status and routing:

See instructions on our status calculator‘s page.

Destination

Hotel prices in India usually start at roughly €20, depending on the hotel category. Whichever category and hotel you opt for, make sure to get the best price! Our recommendation is to search on booking.com, or even on our own Travel-Dealz hotel search:

Information & Tips for India

India is billed as a “subcontinent” not only for geographical reasons. The argument can be made that there is no region on the entire planet as culturally different as India. For example, it is home to as many vegetarians as the rest of the world. But its unique cuisine is just one of reasons to go there – India has a lot to offer. You can finde paradise like beaches in Goa and Kerala. Buzzing metropoles like Delhi and Mumbai invite you as well as and extravagant buildings and palaces like the world famous Taj Mahal. In conclusion, a country as huge as India is full of possibilities.

Visa & Entry

EU citizens need a visa and a passport to enter India. The easiest way is to apply for an eVisa, that will grant you two entries and a stay up to 60 days. It costs around 30€ on the government’s official site. With it, you can enter the country at almost any international airport.

Transport infrastructure

Flag carrier Air India and a bunch of smaller LCCs connect the airports of Delhi and Mumbai to almost any noteworthy city in the country. For a country its size, India has an excellent railway network. This allows for extremely cheap ground transportation. Renting a car is possible, but incredibly dangerous due to poor road conditions and reckless driving habits.

Currency

Official currency is the Indian rupee. €1 buys roughly ₹91.

→ All Dealz for India

Information & Tips for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia, located in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of the Bay of Bengal and the southeast of the Arabian Sea. The island is geographically separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the commercial capital and largest city, Colombo.

Best Time To Visit

The best time to visit the west and south coasts and hill country is from December to March, while the best weather on the east coast is from April/May to September.

Visa & Entry

EU citizens will need a visa to enter Sri Lanka. This can be obtained at arrival or in advance. And it is free of charge.

→ All Dealz for Sri Lanka

Cover Picture: CC0-Lizenz/Pixabay-Nutzer Simon