Virgin Atlantic adds new Riyadh and Accra flights for 2025

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• qrfan says:

  3 Sep3 September 10:44

  Off topic but just called Virgin and they still aren’t able to book China Eastern yet. How is this taking so long for sky team integration? I had basically given up on Virgin as useless with their hopeless route network and awful old seat. The one time I try and redeem since Covid and it turns out they’re still not fully integrated.

  • AL says:

    3 Sep3 September 13:20

    They can book MU revenue but not MU reward. If you were trying to book MU revenue, then HUACA as I suspect the agent isn’t used to it. I think MU revenue are also bookable via the website, too.

• revkev7 says:

  3 Sep3 September 11:23

  I realise that both airlines have limited aircraft at the moment and that competition on established routes can be helpful for the customer, but it does seem that there are no genuine new long-haul routes being offered from either company. Indeed, BA has shrunk the network to Africa significantly with their own routes suspended to places like Luanda, Dar El Salam and Freetown and the ex bmi routes to places like Yerevan, Baku and Addis (realising that Damascus, Tripoli, Tehran and Khartoum are likely to stay off the route map for a long time!). Codeshares are helpful and Qatar offer onward many routes, but it is never the same as a direct flight from the UK.

  • Rhys says:

    3 Sep3 September 11:24

    Limited aircraft, limited slots.

    • Rob says:

      3 Sep3 September 11:38

      In theory, this should benefit VS (but doesn’t, looking at their non-profitability) – BA is almost forced to fly to second tier / lower yield cities because it has 100+ long haul aircraft and, much as it would like, it can’t do 100 flights per day to New York. Virgin with 40ish aircraft should be able to cherry pick ….

      • Bernard says:

        3 Sep3 September 21:45

        That’s wide of the mark. If BA doesn’t make money it doesn’t fly. It doesn’t fly aircraft just for the fun of it.
        Some of the recent new routes have been unexpectedly profitable if you are prepared to read all their investor transcripts. (From IAG).

        Virgin’s problem is partly just a lower premium mix, reflecting their market position. So they start from a total revenue disadvantage. Virgin frequent flyer scheme has been ‘peso-Ed’ by Deita which is another problem.

  • Throwawayname says:

    3 Sep3 September 11:46

    Even for people living in London, LHR can be less than ideal. For anyone outside the city it’s a guaranteed faff, either with multiple changes of trains/tubes or with roadworks, unpredictable traffic, and airport parking.

    For me it’s a network effect thing- it may be worth trekking to Heathrow if you are able to catch earlier/later flights as needed (as in the LON-NYC market), but there’s no point in a direct flight to Luanda that runs twice a week when you can catch one from your local airport and connect to a daily service from Europe or the Arabian peninsula.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      3 Sep3 September 12:17

      Not a faff at all for anyone living in the many towns and cities with easy access to the M40.

      This LHR is for Londoners fallacy is nonsense. Having tried to get from Euston to LHR before because it was just me and parking for so long was expensive vs a train ticket it’s absolutely a right faff for anyone living in east or south London.

      • jj says:

        3 Sep3 September 12:53

        I agree with that. I live in Wales, 2.5 hours drive from Heathrow, but almost always fly from there as the choice of destinations and times is so much better than the closer airports, Cardiff, Bristol or Birmingham, the airport experience (lounges, parking, hotels, etc) is superior, and it’s possible to fly business class. Having twice been seriously delayed at Amsterdam in the few times I’ve tried changing there, nothing can now persuade me to take a connecting flight from a local airport.

        I regard living within comfortable driving distance of Heathrow as an enormous privilege that allows me to travel freely and easily. Most of the world’s population isn’t nearly as fortunate.

        • Spaghetti Town says:

          3 Sep3 September 14:09

          Also in Wales (South). LHR still a good airport to use for long haul although i try to use cardiff as much as I can.

          Weirdly you don’t mind driving 2.5 hours if the flight is longer than the drive.

      • Travel Strong says:

        3 Sep3 September 13:10

        Yep. I am just under 3hrs from MAN or LHR, and just under 2hrs from BHX/BRS/CWL.

        LHR is by far my first choice. It might take a while to drive there – but the experience is consistently pleasant compared to the regional offerings. In no small part due to comparatively pleasant security, lounges, and flight times.

      • AL says:

        3 Sep3 September 13:40

        I live within five miles of MAN, and I use it solely to get to LHR either as a destination, or to connect. I do, sometimes, take a one-way car hire down to LHR, too, especially if its a work trip, if that works out better. LHR is a national asset, not a ‘for London’ asset like, to a degree, I think LGW is.

        • Throwawayname says:

          3 Sep3 September 17:10

          What turns me off driving to LHR (or whichever major hub airport 100+ miles isn’t the length of the journey, but the fact that I have to allow extra time for it so that I end up losing sleep and/or twiddling my thumbs in a lounge/coffee shop (or sometimes even in the check in area waiting for the desks to open). It works with airports like FRA where you can get a direct train and possibly a rail+fly ticket where the risk is with the airline, but driving and parking introduces too many variables for my liking.

• Wob says:

  3 Sep3 September 12:04

  Was really hoping to see the launch of the Seoul flights but I guess we’re still waiting on the merger of Korean and Asiana

• Nick says:

  3 Sep3 September 12:09

  Accra should do well. It’s one of the most profitable routes in the world, fares are high, and DL already has a market presence there so can help sell it. If they fail then it’s a sign they really never can be profitable.

  Incidentally, Ghana is a stunning place for a holiday, and safe (unlike some of its neighbours!)… perhaps Rhys could blag a trip to report on it.

  Saudi will be interesting, KSA are pushing hard to open up (on their terms ofc) and this won’t be the last development there. Will be fun to see what VS do with their uniforms for it though.

  • AL says:

    3 Sep3 September 13:44

    On a map, at least, Accra looks a good place to connect to Brazil, but Google Flights suggests that everything is connecting. I wonder if this is part of a bigger plan by DL to get some connections across the ocean, if they don’t already exist.

• Doommonger says:

  3 Sep3 September 13:02

  Agreed, a Rhys review of Riyadh and Accra would be great.

  • meta says:

    3 Sep3 September 14:25

    Accra is not entirely safe. There are many parts of the city where I wouldn’t feel safe without a guide. My local guide confirmed as much. I felt safer in neighbouring Togo. On the other hand, nightlife and food scene is great but someone needs to tell you about these places. Some of them aren’t even on Google Maps.

    • meta says:

      3 Sep3 September 14:38

      That was also response to @Nick aboce.

      Also the passing of anti-LGBT legislation that is currently being challanged in the Supreme Court is something to take into account. 59% Ghanians suppor the bill, 90% do not tolerate LGBTIQ+ people, with 86% saying they approve of criminalising same-sex relationships

      https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/afropaperno184_curbing_intolerance_for_same_sex_relationships_in_ghana.pdf

      My partner and I did feel safe at Marriott and we had a great guide. I went again two more times on business trips and some of my LGBT+ colleagues were stopped and harrassed by the police.

      I’d still go again, but something to be aware of.

• Mark H says:

  3 Sep3 September 16:37

  I think it’s really important that BA has effective competition from Virgin on long haul routes but its quite hard to understand what the Virgin strategy is here.

  Virgin have withdrawn from routes like Tokyo and Hong Kong and they seem to chop and change routes like nobody’s business making it quite hard to understand what they are up to.

  I can’t help but think an extra rotation on a high-yielding USA route might not be a better option for them?

  The comparisons offered by other readers saying this feels a bit like the death throes of BMI rings a chord with me – it’s hard to understand what market Virgin are going after and as a customer who pays a lot of attention to such matters, I am still confused as to which routes they have pulled, started, restarted and withdrawn from. It’s much easier to rely on BA! And even if I did book with VS I’d have to avoid those awful 787s where you cannot see out of the window – horrible!

  • Paul says:

    3 Sep3 September 17:38

    if there is one thing that does not happen in the UK it is competition between VS and BA. There is a lot of noise between the two and both offer something different but their fares are identical. As an example LHR JFK LHR departing 4th Sep at lunch time and returning on the 11th in the morning business class is £7748 on both airlines. That’s not competition that’s rigged market!

    • CamFlyer says:

      3 Sep3 September 22:57

      Whatbwould the BA price be without Virgin Atlantic? Would you it is a rigged market if Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda all charge the same price for the same package of Wheetabix? If so, why do the major chains advertise how they price match their competition?

• apbj says:

  3 Sep3 September 21:04

  Ghana might be nice but I believe still requires a tourist visa for UK passport-holders. Senegal doesn’t.

  • Joe says:

    3 Sep3 September 23:39

    It does – and it’s a right faff to get one (I was there earlier this year). It’s a fascinating country to visit, and has great – very low cost – safari options in the north of the country, but it’s not a quick and easy trip to plan.

    Not great for LGBT travellers either.

• meta says:

  4 Sep4 September 00:31

  It’s not that of faff to get a visa, there are far more difficult visas to obtain. Also if you have already a visitor visa from before, they don’t check documents much.

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