In this guide12 sections

Flying from Europe to Asia or further? The airport you leave from barely changes the price. In the fares we checked in August and September 2026, 15 of 24 European airports cost about the same for flights to Asia and beyond. The likely reason: whichever airport they started from, two in three of the fares we checked to Asia changed planes in the same few cities, mostly Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Istanbul and Doha.

Does your airport matter for flights outside Europe?

Much less than for trips within Europe. There, the airport you pick can double the price (here’s which ones are cheapest). Outside Europe, most airports land in the middle.

How airports compare on price
  • Within Europe11815
  • Outside Europe2157

Number of airports whose fares were cheaper, about the same (within 5%) or pricier than other airports flying to the same places. Outside Europe: about 4,000 km or more away. Fares we checked, 8 August – 28 September 2026.

We’re not the only ones to find this. An older comparison by Price of Travel (opens in a new tab), of flights from London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt to 16 Asian cities, found fares much the same whichever city you left from.

Find your airport:

Flights outside Europe, by departure airport
  • CheaperAthensMilan Malpensa
  • About the sameAmsterdamBarcelonaBerlinBrusselsDublinFrankfurtHelsinkiLondon HeathrowMadridMunichPragueRomeViennaWarsawZurich
  • PricierBudapestCopenhagenOsloPalmaParis CDGStockholmVilnius

Each airport had fares to 8–36 destinations outside Europe, so treat these as rough groups, not a ranking.

Which European airport is cheapest for flights to Asia?

It depends on where you’re going. The same airport can win one trip and lose the next.

Return fare from the cheapest and the priciest airport
  1. Bangkokcheapest from Venice€460 to €819 return.
  2. Phuketcheapest from Athens€444 to €892 return.
  3. Balicheapest from Frankfurt€662 to €1,005 return.
  4. Singaporecheapest from Madrid€492 to €784 return.
  5. Kuala Lumpurcheapest from Vienna€538 to €789 return.
  6. Hanoicheapest from London€496 to €884 return.
  7. Manilacheapest from Milan€546 to €905 return.
  8. Hong Kongcheapest from Copenhagen€584 to €787 return.
  9. Seoulcheapest from Athens€430 to €772 return.

Typical economy return fare from each airport, in the fares we checked 8 August – 28 September 2026.

Venice was the cheapest place to fly to Bangkok from, and one of the priciest for Hanoi. Frankfurt was cheapest for Bali and near the top for Phuket. A few airports did keep turning up cheap: Athens, Milan, Madrid, Prague and Vienna.

Flying to Thailand: Bangkok and Phuket

Bangkok is where we have the most data, with fares from 26 airports. Venice and Milan were cheapest, Prague and Rome close behind.

One of us flew from Milan to Bangkok in August, peak season for European travellers, and paid about €720 return with one stop, booked six months ahead. The Milan fares we checked this autumn were around €510. That difference is the season, not the airport. For how early to start watching busy dates, see When to book flights.

Phuket had the biggest gap of any destination: from Bucharest it cost twice as much as from Athens, for the same beach. Athens, Prague and Vienna were cheapest, mostly on Air Arabia via Sharjah. For what’s cheap right now, see current deals to Thailand.

A white-sand bay below limestone cliffs on Thailand’s Andaman coast, with boats anchored in turquoise water.

Flying to Bali, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

Bali is the odd one out: the big hubs, Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam, were the cheapest places to fly from, Frankfurt mostly on China Southern via Guangzhou. Madrid was cheapest for Singapore, and Vienna for Kuala Lumpur. Athens and Vienna also have Scoot’s nonstop flights to Singapore, with return fares from €480 and €550 (opens in a new tab).

A Balinese clifftop temple with tiered roofs above the Indian Ocean at sunset, with flowers in the foreground.

Flying to Hanoi, Manila, Hong Kong, Seoul and Mumbai

London was cheapest for Hanoi, Milan for Manila and Athens for Seoul. Hong Kong cost about the same from everywhere. For Mumbai, Rome, Berlin and Prague were cheapest. We had Tokyo from only a few airports, not enough to compare.

Beyond Asia: New York, South Africa and the Maldives

We have fewer airports for these, so take them as examples, not a ranking.

  • New York: cheapest from Madrid and Barcelona. London was the priciest.
  • Johannesburg: Madrid, Rome and Milan were cheapest, Frankfurt the priciest.
  • Cape Town: Vienna, Oslo and Milan, from only five airports.
  • Maldives: Athens, Vienna and Milan Bergamo.
A wooden jetty leading across a turquoise lagoon to a small palm-covered island in the Maldives.

Where flights to Asia change planes

Two in three of the fares we checked to Asia changed planes in the Gulf or Istanbul, mostly on Etihad, Air Arabia, Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and Qatar Airways. From 20 of the 24 airports, more than half did. With almost everyone going through the same few connections, fares from different airports end up close.

Where the fares to Asia changed planes. Abu Dhabi 26%, Sharjah 13%, Istanbul 12%, Doha 10%, other Gulf airports 7%, and other routes 31%.
  1. Abu Dhabi26%
  2. Sharjah13%
  3. Istanbul12%
  4. Doha10%
  5. Other Gulf7%
  6. Other routes31%

4,091 economy return fares to 22 destinations in South, Southeast and East Asia, checked 8 August – 28 September 2026. The stop is the airline’s home airport: Abu Dhabi for Etihad, Sharjah for Air Arabia, Istanbul for Turkish Airlines and Pegasus, Doha for Qatar Airways. Other Gulf: Muscat, Dubai and Bahrain. Rounded.

The Gulf isn’t a shortcut, though. Those airlines had about two-thirds of the cheapest quarter of fares to each destination, and about two-thirds of the priciest quarter too. For 10 of the 22 Asian destinations, the fares from the cheapest airport were mostly on Gulf or Turkish airlines. For six, they were on Chinese airlines: China Southern via Guangzhou from Frankfurt to Bali, for example, and Shenzhen Airlines from London to Hanoi.

Tips you’ll read elsewhere, checked against our fares

Some tips for cheaper long-haul flights come up again and again. Here’s what our fares say about four of them.

Is it cheaper to fly long-haul from Brussels than Amsterdam?

Not in our fares

Despite the Netherlands’ €30.25 ticket tax (opens in a new tab), Amsterdam was cheaper on 11 of the 16 long-haul destinations both fly to.

Should you take the train to Amsterdam to skip Germany’s tax?

Rarely worth it

Germany’s €59.43 long-haul tax (opens in a new tab) is real, but Amsterdam beat Frankfurt by a median of only €12, not enough to cover the trip there.

Is it cheaper to fly from Dublin to avoid UK air passenger duty?

Not in our fares

Despite the UK’s £102–106 duty (opens in a new tab) on long-haul tickets, Heathrow was cheaper than Dublin on 3 of the 4 destinations we could compare.

Is it cheaper to fly to Asia from Eastern Europe?

Not on average

Warsaw, Prague and Vienna came out about average, and Budapest and Vilnius were pricier.

Airports that are better for long trips

Some airports are pricey within Europe but fine for going further. If you read our Europe guide, check these again:

  • London Heathrow: expensive for Europe, normal for flights outside it.
  • Zurich: the same story, and it often beat Munich.
  • Madrid and Barcelona swap places. Barcelona is cheaper within Europe; Madrid was cheaper for going further, and the cheapest airport we checked for New York, Johannesburg and Singapore.

Is it worth flying to another airport first?

Only when the long flight is well over €100 cheaper there. In our fares, a return flight to the other airport cost about €110, so small savings disappear.

How often it paid off, by how much cheaper the long flight was. Flying to a cheaper airport first paid off in 7% of cases when the long flight was under €100 cheaper, 74% at €100–200, and every time above €200.
  1. Under €1007%
  2. €100–20074%
  3. Over €200100%

353 cases in the fares we checked where another airport had the lower long-haul fare and we also had a fare for the flight there: 15 of 216 under €100, 64 of 87 at €100–200 and 50 of 50 over €200. Typical economy return fares, 8 August – 28 September 2026, before bags and any hotel night.

Oslo → PhuketFlying to Prague first, then Air Arabia from there

From Oslo
€747
Via Prague
€626€508 + €118 to get there
Difference
−€121worth it
The long flight was €239 cheaper from Prague, about twice what the Oslo–Prague return cost.

Frankfurt → BangkokFlying to Rome first

From Frankfurt
€600
Via Rome
€632€538 + €94 to get there
Difference
+€32not worth it
Rome was only €62 cheaper for the long flight, less than the €94 Frankfurt–Rome return.

If you do it:

  • Leave plenty of time. The flight there is a separate ticket, and EU compensation for a missed connection only applies to flights booked as a single reservation (opens in a new tab). Fly in the day before if you can, and count the hotel night.
  • Add your bags to both tickets. Budget airlines charge for checked bags on the short flight, and some cheap long-haul fares don’t include one either: Air Arabia charges €24 for a 23 kg bag (opens in a new tab) on its Thailand fares.

How to find the cheapest flight outside Europe

This is a snapshot, not the last word: 8,943 fares we checked in August and September 2026, as Gulf airlines were rebuilding their schedules (opens in a new tab) after sharp cuts in the spring. Routes and prices keep moving, so we’ll check again every quarter and update this guide if the picture changes.

Frequently asked questions

How far in advance should I book a flight to Asia?

For summer holidays and Christmas, book about four to six months ahead. For other dates, start looking about three months ahead.

Source: When to book flights

Do I need a visa to change planes in the Gulf or Istanbul?

Usually not, if you stay in the transit area on a single ticket. It depends on your passport, so check with your airline or the IATA Travel Centre before you book.

Source: IATA Travel Centre (opens in a new tab)

What’s the cheapest place in Asia to fly to from Europe?

In the fares we checked, Mumbai and Colombo were cheapest, with Bangkok and Singapore close behind. Bali and Taipei cost the most.

Source: Our data