Virgin Atlantic adds new Riyadh and Accra flights for 2025

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• Kieran says:

  3 Sep3 September 06:03

  The comments here make me laugh. They launch a new US route and its ’VAA are too US focussed’ and the my launch something else and it’s ’VAA are so random’. Reeks of can’t do right for doing wrong amongst the staunch BA loyalists on this forum.

  • Novice says:

    3 Sep3 September 07:37

    Not everyone is a Virgin or a BA loyalist? I am loyal to my hard earned money and my own happiness. I go with different airlines depending on who suits my needs. But I am regular HfP reader and commenter. I am sure that there’s many like me. And, BA gets a lot of hate as well.

• TooPoorToBeHere says:

  3 Sep3 September 07:44

  Does it cost a lot in rebooking pax when they, inevitably, cancel newly-launched routes?

  Or are most pax ignorant enough to accept the refund?

• LittleNick says:

  3 Sep3 September 07:59

  Would love it if Virgin schedule routes to Tokyo and Singapore, these would be popular no doubt but I guess they have good logistical/operational reasons for not doing so sadly

  • Rhys says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:56

    Doubt Singapore is on the cards any time soon. Very long flight which takes crew and aircraft out of service for a significant % of the time (vs Accra which is half the time) and massive amount of competition from BA, Singapore, Qantas etc.

    • LittleNick says:

      3 Sep3 September 09:01

      What do you mean etc? as last time I checked was just these three airlines operating the route non-stop albeit with multiple services. The route is still in very heavy demand and under supplied, more competition is welcome though granted of course long flight time to both those. Let’s hope the Korean flight gets under way might be the only saving grace to get east on Virgin

      • Venturelog says:

        3 Sep3 September 09:59

        So you believe another airline can fill an A380 from London to Singapore 1 day a week? Wonder how long that would last? Speak to James A at Global airlines and he might just do it.

        • meta says:

          3 Sep3 September 10:49

          Tokyo is very costly due to Rusian airspace closure. Japan is very popular with rich Americans and Europeans (and points collectors) but it’s not a diaspora nor a simple leisure route. It’s also served by 4 daily flights from London and many indirect routes which make sense given current circumstances.

• Adnan says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:10

  Would the codeshare arrangements with Saudia and WestJet allow use of the Virgin Atlantic Credit card voucher?

  • Rhys says:

    3 Sep3 September 08:55

    No

• apbj says:

  3 Sep3 September 08:40

  Now that VS is more of a network carrier, and with a shift in the market towards leisure, finding routes that have good VFR or connection opportunities make sense. I would expect Accra to do well. Riyadh obviously being supported by Saudia/Saudia Arabia’s expansion ambitions. Crew might not enjoy the nightstop but hey ho.

  • meta says:

    3 Sep3 September 10:53

    Yes, I’ll be the first one booking Accra to position for West Africa. It’s also very good for mix and matching with Virgin and BA as BA inbound is an overnight one.

    Now you can also do a sort of day trip to Accra . Fly Virgin to Accra, spend full day then back on BA overnight service.

    • Doommonger says:

      3 Sep3 September 12:59

      What an odd thing to want to do.

      • meta says:

        3 Sep3 September 14:15

        It’s not an odd thing to mix and match. People do it all the time to JFK.

        For a day trip, you’ll have no jet lag (only an hour time difference) and you can visit most major sights in Accra in one day. It’s a different thing if you want to go outside the capital.

• David S says:

  3 Sep3 September 09:02

  I used to love going to Ghana on business some 20 + years ago. Jerry Rawlings was still in power then and it felt a safe place to visit although I wouldn’t call it a tourist destination. It was an interesting experience arriving at Kotoka airport back then. I remember one trip being asked for a financial deposit to be allowed to take my company laptop into the country and not wanting to give them a heap of cash of any currency, I got away with leaving an unsigned Travelers Cheque. Those were the days when travel was genuinely an adventure

• Harry says:

  3 Sep3 September 09:39

  If I recall directly then I believe there are still bmi remedy slots available to fly to Riyadh, which would mean that not only are they subsidised by KSA but also they get a free slot at Heathrow. Not bad at all.

  I do have a question about the fleet though which is that based on the orders and what they’ve said previously, the fleet looks to only be growing by one aircraft over four years. So basically this means that any new routes must always be due to route cancellations or am I wrong?

  • Rob says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:45

    Good point. Cairo next then!

    • Tiger of ham says:

      3 Sep3 September 10:25

      This route needs more comp. BA’s club europe was £638 the other day booking a month ahead! For easyjet seat and a meal!

      • Rob says:

        3 Sep3 September 10:43

        It has competition – EgyptAir will fly you to Cairo in a flat bed seat, easyJet will fly you down there for less than BA wants but no business class. All ends of the market covered, surely.

        • Tiger of ham says:

          3 Sep3 September 15:51

          True, fly this route a lot and Egypt air is not my fav. Basically just want a wide body back on it. They are charging wide body prices.

  • Rhys says:

    3 Sep3 September 09:52

    Yes, but not all routes are created equal. Eg. Accra is only 6 hours so you could conceivably fly almost two round trips in 24 hours (not quite, given time on ground etc but you get my point.)

    In contrast, the mooted flight to Korea is 13h – basically twice as long.

  • kt74 says:

    3 Sep3 September 11:57

    So if Riyadh is starting in March 2025, we now know that the last flight will be in March 2028, because the remedy slots can be used for any other longhaul route after 6 consecutive IATA seasons of continuous operation. VS just needs to sustain 36 months of losses!

    • Rob says:

      3 Sep3 September 12:30

      Virgin is not funding those losses.

      I suspect Saudia has agreed to buy 50% of the seats on each flight as part of the codeshare deal which it may or may not resell. This is how Qatar has got so many airlines to launch Doha flights.

    • Harry says:

      3 Sep3 September 13:46

      Yeah if the remedy slots are indeed a thing (I’m not a hundred percent sure why Saudia/Riyadh Air would not have already hoovered them up but on the ACL website they still seem available, maybe someone can research), then lasting three years shouldn’t be too much of an issue if launch aid has been given. Airports in search of prestige spend big on new routes, I recall an article about BA starting service to Pittsburgh saying that it was being given $3 million dollars for 2 years of flights at 4 flights a week and further sweeteners for any frequency increase. KSA probably gave quite a bit more for VS to commit a daily flight to a destination which is perhaps not quite fitting with their culture.

• Throwawayname says:

  3 Sep3 September 10:03

  The ACC addition seems genuinely exciting to me, it’s a great opportunity to use the upgrade vouchers. Flights within West Africa are super expensive, but there are some great award redemptions to be had. I just hope the surcharges aren’t stupid.

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