Virgin Atlantic has announced a trio of new destinations for the spring of 2025. In addition to flying to Toronto, Canada, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the SkyTeam carrier is adding flights to a third destination…
Virgin Atlantic adds London to Accra flight
As of May 1, 2025, Virgin Atlantic will launch a new daily flight between London Heathrow (LHR) and Accra (ACC). The airline will use the Boeing 787-9 for the route, and it will operate with the following schedule:
VS403 London to Accra departing 10:30PM arriving 5:00AM (+1 day)
VS404 Accra to London departing 9:15AM arriving 5:25PM
The 3,160-mile flight will be blocked at 6hr30min southbound and 7hr10min northbound. The flight should become bookable as of September 12, 2024. Keep in mind that Virgin Atlantic has an award seat guarantee, so this should be easy to book with Flying Club points once the flight becomes bookable.
This flight to Ghana represents a service resumption, rather than a new route. Virgin Atlantic last flew to Accra in 2013, so it has been over a decade since the carrier served this market. Virgin Atlantic will be competing directly with British Airways, which also flies once daily between the airports.
Accra will be Virgin Atlantic’s fourth destination in Africa, after year-round service to Johannesburg (JNB) and Lagos (LOS), plus seasonal service to Cape Town (CPT).
The timings of the new Accra and Riyadh routes seem to coincide with the timings of the Tel Aviv (TLV) route, which has been suspended for some time. Since Heathrow is slot controlled, I can’t help but wonder if Tel Aviv is getting cut, and is being replaced by these two destinations.
What’s Virgin Atlantic’s motivation for Accra service?
What’s Virgin Atlantic’s motive for once again flying to Accra? The airline notes that:
- Currently competition between the two countries is lacking, as only British Airways flies nonstop between the airports
- The UK is home to the third largest Ghanaian diaspora in the world, so this route will be leisure oriented, for those visiting friends and relatives
- Around 10% of customers are also expected to connect through London onto Virgin Atlantic’s New York (JFK) service; the New York route is the only one that provides connectivity here, given the 5:25PM arrival in London
I’ve gotta say, as far as route justifications go, this is one that sort of leaves you scratching your head. The route is expressly intended for leisure travelers, and there’s a single North America destination that passengers can connect to, with no onward connectivity in Accra, at least not through codeshares or partnerships.
The interesting thing about the nonstop London to Accra market is that at least historically, economy fares have been quite high. Admittedly that’s probably because British Airways had the market to itself up until now. But at least in economy, fares are much higher between London and Accra than they are between London and New York, despite the latter being a bit longer.
Virgin Atlantic seems like it has a massive disadvantage here compared to British Airways. British Airways’ service is timed for connections in both directions, as the flight departs London in the early afternoon, and arrives in London in the early morning.
I’m curious for how long this Virgin Atlantic route lasts, at least on a year-round basis…
Bottom line
As of the spring of 2025, Virgin Atlantic will launch a new daily flight between London and Accra. This is a route resumption, as Virgin Atlantic last operated this service in 2013.
Virgin Atlantic expressly states that this is a point-to-point leisure route, with the airline expecting that roughly 10% of passengers will connect to New York, and that’s it. I’m curious to see how this route performs, as Virgin Atlantic is competing with British Airways, which has some advantages here.
What do you make of Virgin Atlantic launching Accra flights?
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