Bits: lots of BA Cape Town seats one way, Emirates boosts Gatwick, hotels in London’s Open House

News in brief:

Lots of Avios seats TO Cape Town …. few back!

A huge amount of British Airways business class Avios availability TO Cape Town was released yesterday, covering January, February and March.

The majority of dates had at least two Club World seats bookable at the time of writing (7.30pm last night).

The snag? There is literally nothing back in business, except for two solitary seats on 6th February. Even if you were willing to fly back in economy there are only three dates in February back.

Using Johannesburg on the return is better – there is a splattering of business class dates and a decent number in economy.

You could book an outbound with no return and cross your fingers that something comes up. If you have miles in another airline scheme you may also be able to use those to get home.

Emirates increases Gatwick flights

Emirates is announcing additional flights to London, hot on heels of Qatar Airways’ announcement that it would increase its own UK services. It means the airline will operate a crazy 140 flights per week from the UK to Dubai.

It is adding a fourth daily flight from Gatwick to be operated by an A350, Emirates’ newest aircraft type. These feature an updated business class cabin based on its existing seats, although a new cabin with doors is slated for later deliveries of this type.

Emirates’ A350s are configured with 32 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats and 259 economy seats. Premium economy is still new to the airline – it only launched in 2023 – and is one of the best premium economy experiences I’ve reviewed.

Flight times for the new service are:

• EK70 departs Gatwick at 11:55pm and arrives in Dubai at 11:00am the following morning (overnight flight)
• EK69 departs Dubai at 5:05pm and arrives in Gatwick at 8:50pm (day flight)

It becomes the last flight of the day between London and Dubai in both directions, adding a useful extra option to the schedule. (The previous last flight of the day departs Heathrow at 10pm, almost two hours before.)

The new flight launches on 8th February 2026 and is now bookable on the Emirates website.

Three hotels take part in London’s Open House Festival

If you live in London then you’ve probably heard of the Open House Festival, where everything from notable private residences to cultural institutions open their doors to the public to look around. This year it runs from 13th to 21st September.

I was moseying around the programme preview and noticed the inclusion of several London hotels, all three of which we’ve reviewed.

The Standard, Andaz Liverpool Street and St Pancras Chambers (ex-Renaissance) and Clock Tower are all offering guided tours. Bookings open on 20th August. Each will get you into areas of the hotels not usually open to the public, including the St Pancras clock tower and the 1912 Masonic Temple in at the Andaz.