In this post:
British Airways: Prestige Cuvée English Sparkling to Be Served in First
British Airways will become the only airline to serve award-winning prestige cuvée English sparkling wine on board. BA is working with English sparkling wine houses, including Nyetimber, Gusbourne and Sugrue South Downs, to offer a variety across First and Club World cabins on a rotational basis each quarter.
Calum Laming, British Airways’ Chief Customer Officer, said:
“We are proud to lead the way in championing provenance and British originality, as we continue to work with the very best wine producers across England and beyond for our customers to enjoy both on the ground and in the air”.
English Sparkling Prestige Cuvées
Over the next 12 months, the First cabin will have a rotation of English sparkling prestige cuvées, including:
- 1086 by Nyetimber Rosé 2014 – April – June 2025
- Gusbourne Fifty One Degrees North 2016 (crafted from fruit grown in Kent and Sussex) – July 2025 to September 2025
- 1086 by Nyetimber – October to December 2025
- Sugrue South Downs Blend – January to March 2026
This gives you a chance to try vintages you might not otherwise encounter, with quarterly rotations keeping the selection fresh and seasonally appropriate.
Nyetimber’s owner and Chief Executive Officer, Eric Heerema, said:
“It is fantastic to see our 1086 by Nyetimber sparkling wines available in British Airways’ First cabin. We make these wines from only the very best grapes from across our vineyards in the best vintages, and they represent the pinnacle of Nyetimber’s winemaking – embodying outstanding quality, craftsmanship and patience”.
British Airways has also trained more than 1,300 cabin crew as part of its First Service Specialist programme, which includes a bespoke wine masterclass designed by BA’s Master of Wine.
Champagne
You can also look forward to a curated Champagne programme in First, with the return of Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle (April to June) followed by:
- Lanson NOBLE 2008 and NOBLE Blanc de Blancs 2005/2008 July to September 2025
- Bollinger Grande Année and PN AYC18 – October to December 2025
- Rare Champagne and Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires – January to March 2026
If you’re flying First from New York JFK, you can enjoy Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015 on board.
Before You Fly
BA will continue to serve Pommery Cuvée Louise 2006 in the Concorde Room at London Heathrow Terminal 5.
You can also sample some of the finest English sparkling wines at a new tasting station in the Galleries First lounge, featuring:
- Balfour Rosé de Noirs
- Simpsons Chalklands Cuvée Brut NV
British Airways: Premium English Sparkling Wine to be Served in Club World
British Airways is also expanding its Club World English sparkling wine programme, which first launched in 2023.
The new lineup will feature a range of sparkling wines from established and boutique English producers. You can enjoy:
- Digby Fine English Brut NV – April to June 2025
- Gusbourne 2019 Vintage Rosé – July to September 2025
- Hattingley Valley Blanc de Noirs 2019 (exclusively made for BA) – October to December 2025 – Previously served in First from October
- Roebuck Reserve Brut 2020 – January to March 2026
- Digby Leander Pink Brut NV – April to June 2026
Spring Dishes
To complement the new wine and champagne offers, if you’re travelling between 18th and 21st April, you can enjoy Spring-inspired dishes on flights departing from Heathrow and Gatwick, including Welsh Spring lamb and delicious Easter desserts in First and Club World.
Earn and Spend Avios on Garuda Indonesia Flights
In an unexpected welcome development, you can now earn and redeem Avios on Garuda Indonesia flights, thanks to a new partnership with Qatar Airways, despite Qatar being part of Oneworld and Garuda Indonesia being part of SkyTeam.
This quiet partnership allows you to spend and collect Avios with Garuda Indonesia as long as everything is done via the Qatar Privilege Club. Join the Qatar Privilege Club here.
You cannot book Garuda Indonesia redemption flights via BA and other Avios-earning airlines such as Iberia and Finnair.
However, you can transfer Avios from BA to use on a Garuda Indonesia redemption via Qatar Airways if your BA and Qatar accounts are linked. Avios will be automatically taken from your BA balance when redeeming through Qatar (this does not work for members of your household account).
Where Does Garuda Indonesia Fly?
Garuda Indonesia does not have much presence in Europe. There are no London flights, and the only European flight is Amsterdam to Jakarta, which is useful for travelling to Bali, especially with the current limited BA Asia routes.
They have 37 domestic destinations and plenty of international routes, including Australia (Melbourne, Sydney), the Middle East (Doha, Medinah, Jeddah) and Asia (Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo).
Spending Avios on Garuda Flights
Redemption prices follow the Qatar Airways Avios partner redemption chart:
Note: Garuda flights are not yet fully searchable on the Qatar Airways website, but expect that functionality to go live soon. Due to this, we don’t yet know what the taxes and fees will be.
The issue with European flights is that the Amsterdam route falls into the 7,001+ tier by just a few miles, making the redemption less valuable. The redemption would cost you 154,500 Avios in Business or 206,000 in First. However, there are some pretty good redemption opportunities away from Europe.
There are also some great value redemption opportunities for getting around Asia, especially on shorter routes like Singapore to Jakarta and Singapore to Bali. On these routes, you can book a redemption flight with another airline and then continue with Garuda. Routes such as Jakarta to Tokyo also have exceptional value.
Earning Avios with Garuda Via Qatar Airways
You can also earn Avios on paid Garuda flights when credited to your Qatar Privilege Club account. The number of Avios you earn is based on fare class and distance flown:
To earn Avios, make sure you credit your flight to Qatar Privilege Club and not another SkyTeam programme.
Note: You will only earn Avios with Garuda Indonesia, not status points.
You Can Still Credit Flights to Other SkyTeam Airlines
Instead of earning Avios with Garuda Indonesia via Qatar Airways, you can also opt to earn miles with a SkyTeam airline, such as Flying Blue (KLM/Air France) and the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
It’s fantastic that earning Avios on a SkyTeam airline is now possible! Keep an eye out for Garuda availability as it is gradually added to the Qatar site.
For more info on earning and redeeming Avios via Qatar Airways, make sure you read our Guide to the Qatar Privilege Club.
3 comments
I think serving the best quality English sparkling wine is a good idea. Clearly BA doesn’t want to compete with the leading airlines by serving Krug, Crystal or Salon premium French champagne, but rather than show how inferior their budget is, its better to go English, and at the same time showcase the finest domestic produce to an unknowing global audience.
They should do the same with Scotch, London Gin and Navy Rum too, but they won’t.
I think you are bang on the money.
It’s a smart move by BA to offer English and actually it can be very good, high quality offering.
I was in the First Lounge at Heathrow a couple of days ago and Gatwick First Lounge a week ago and it was good to see both stocking my favourite rum (Zacapa 23). I hope they keep that! (Literally drinking a glass as we speak in Oman).
Most English bubblies I’ve had (and that’s a lot) have the beating of most champagnes. Only been able to have them in Cathay Pacific lounges in airports so far. This is a welcome development.
Comments are closed.