Virgin Atlantic has announced new flights from London Heathrow, adding two new destinations Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Accra, Ghana to its network for summer 2025.
Virgin Atlantic will return to Ghana for the first time since 2013, with daily flights to Kotoka International Airport in the nation’s capital, Accra, from May 2025.
Virgin Atlantic suspended its operations between London Heathrow and Accra, Ghana, from 22nd September 2013 due to exceptionally high fuel costs, a challenging wider economic environment and an inability to operate morning arrivals from Accra due to scarcity of slots at Heathrow. The last flight from Accra to London will depart on 23rd September.
Next year, the airline will provide much-needed competition on the route, which currently lacks a choice of routes between the two countries.
The UK is home to the third largest Ghanaian diaspora in the world and the new service will respond to demand to visit friends and relatives. Around 10% of customers are also expected to connect through London onto Virgin Atlantic’s New York JFK service.
Launching on 1 May 2025, the daily service will operate on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft boasting the airline’s Upper Class, Premium and Economy Delight, Classic and Light cabins, as well as an onboard bar. Accra is expected to be a very strong cargo route and Virgin Atlantic will offer 30 tonnes of capacity on each flight carrying goods, such as fresh produce, between Ghana and key markets in the UK and US.
Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, said “Riyadh and Accra join Toronto as new routes for summer flying in 2025 and we see huge opportunities to connect friends, relatives and businesses with our new services. We’re also delighted to build on our codeshare with SkyTeam partner Saudia, further strengthening connectivity in the region, and beyond, and bringing new benefits to our loyal customers.”
He added, “We look forward to launching these new routes in 2025, introducing the iconic, inclusive Virgin Atlantic brand, award-winning experience and our amazing people to new customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ghana and Toronto.”
Saudi Arabia
For the first time, the airline will launch a daily service to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The service aims to participate in the growth expected from Saudi Vision 2030. In 2023, annual trade between the UK and Saudi Arabia was worth £17.1 billion with an ambition to reach £30 billion of trade by 2030. Accordingly, air travel between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia is forecast to grow 24% between 2019-2035.
Riyadh is in growth mode, with an expanded downtown business district, F1 circuit, theme park, shopping and entertainment complexes. The city is also the perfect base to explore cultural attractions across this vast country including the UNESCO World Heritage sites of historical Jeddah, the gateway to Mecca, Al Ula, Al Ahsa, and the stunning Rock Art in Hima.
Saudi Arabia is world’s 20th largest economy, the largest in the Middle East with a population of 37 million. The market is expected to have a predominantly Saudi Arabian point of sale, which will see customers visiting the UK, as well as seamlessly connecting to twelve destinations throughout North America, on Virgin Atlantic and Delta networks, including Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Boston and Detroit.
Alongside business travellers, the route will serve the ‘visiting friends and relatives’ (VFR) market, which has seen a fivefold increase in Saudis living in the UK between 2000 and 2018.
Flights to Riyadh will operate daily on the airline’s state of the art A330neo, the newest aircraft in Virgin Atlantic’s fleet, with the first flight departing London Heathrow on 30 March 2025. Virgin Atlantic will offer 30 tonnes of cargo capacity on each flight for companies looking to export and import goods, such as fresh produce and specialised goods, including pharmaceuticals, between Riyadh and prime markets in the UK and US.
Riyadh is also home to the airline’s SkyTeam partner, Saudia. The partnership will offer onward connections to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, with further destinations within Saudi Arabia and to Bangladesh and China to follow as the airline continues to grow its strategic partnership with Saudia. Flying Club members will earn and redeem Virgin Points across Saudia’s flying programme, alongside SkyTeam partners. All Saudia operated flights from London Heathrow and Manchester to Riyadh and Jeddah are already marketed by Virgin Atlantic, and on sale across all sales channels, offering multi-daily departures between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.