Economy to Mumbai
 

Any recommendations?

I have a short notice work trip leaving on Sunday/Monday from Manchester and the policy is Economy travel.

BA via London, Emirates, Etihad, etc....any help welcome!

As you are going to be connecting and travelling economy I would go with BA. The leg between the Middle East and India will be mostly migrant workers who aren't the best travelling companions. If you were in business class I'd be less concerned as you wouldn't be jammed in with a load of drunken construction workers.

Ex UK economy passengers will be of a better class of people.

BA would be great as I can use to lounge, but the economy fare is extortionate at £1,927.

Am thinking Emirates on the A380 might be best option...

I highly recommend Qatar Airways.

I think you should listen to what Metro Man is saying.

Manchester to the ME in an Emirates A380 would be lovely, it is the 3 hour onward flight in Economy to Mumbai that will be the issue and might make the BA premium a bargain.

The same applies to any other routing via the ME.

Have you looked at alternatives routings via FRA, CDG, AMS which would probably reduce the APD and hence overall costs?

I have to say that if I were compelled to do that trip in economy for work, I'd be looking to obey the letter of the law (ie. BA economy is permissible, because it's economy) rather than trying to save my employer even more money at the expense of my comfort...

Just sayin'.

But then, I tend to take the view that I'm doing my company a favour by travelling, rather than the other way round.

Bearing in mind the comments here about a Gulf city transit and downside of the onward-India leg and which cabin it would best to do that in, have you looked at Y to Dubai or Doha and J onward. Emirates will probably do that as would a combined BA -QR (if they go to MAA) and you wd get your BA points too. Cost might be close to the BA non stop Y class as Man-MAA in J on EK is only 500 pnds more than the BA flight

Pax Brittanica,
Please read the question.
The OP is going to Mumbai (BOM), not to Chennai (MAA).
Stay awake at the back there.
😊

Did a similar trip with Lufthansa some time ago via Frankfurt (enough time on the ground at Frankfurt for a leisurely beer, without hanging around for ages), all in all very good. Prices look reasonable at the moment too.

You may consider SWISS via Zurich.
At the moment offering GBP762 in economy, out on Sunday28/6 back on Wednesday 1/7.

I would heartily recommend SWISS/LH as airlines and FRA/ZRH as transfer points. Swiss in particular are top class and ZRH is very easy to move around.

Oops
Sorry but the point remains the same about splitting the classes for the different trip legs, Probably cheaper going to Mumbai anyway as shorter,

The power of the Internet, how about Emirates, same dates and an A380 Dubai to Mumbai also on the return leg Dubai to Manchester. GBP530 is not a bad deal.
BTW Dubai to Mumbai is 3 hours, why upgrade for such a short leg?

How about Turkish Airlines?

Because of the passengers he will be sharing the cabin with. He will be travelling economy and lumped in with low class migrant workers whose manners leave a lot to be desired. They don't know how to queue up, toilets will be filthy, bathing and deodorant regarded as optional and they will drink to excess, arguments and fights quite possible.

AVOID flights between the Middle East and the Indian sub continent in economy.

If unable to fly business class, rather choose another transit point. From Manchester a connection via another European airport would be quite possible however a quick look at a well known search engine shows BA as the cheapest airline avoiding the Gulf states.

"Because of the passengers he will be sharing the cabin with. He will be travelling economy and lumped in with low class migrant workers whose manners leave a lot to be desired. They don't know how to queue up, toilets will be filthy, bathing and deodorant regarded as optional and they will drink to excess, arguments and fights quite possible."

Sounds like my last flight from Crete to Manchester..................

.............. or any flight with Ryanair :ok: