Virgin Atlantic plans to expand its network from London Heathrow Airport (LHR), adding two destinations for summer 2025.
The airline will launch daily flights to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, starting March 30, and resume service to Accra from May 1, marking its first service to Ghana since 2013.
The new route to Riyadh will be the first time the SkyTeam member has operated flights to Saudi Arabia, opening up a significant market in the Middle East. The daily service to King Khalid International Airport (RUH) will be offered using the Airbus A330-900neo aircraft with 262 seats and 30 metric tons of cargo capacity.
The launch aligns with Saudi Vision 2030, a strategic framework aimed at diversifying the country’s economy and reducing its dependence on oil. With annual trade between the UK and Saudi Arabia reaching £17.1 billion ($22.4 billion) in 2023, and projected to grow to £30 billion by 2030, Virgin Atlantic aims to capitalize on the expanding market.
The route is therefore expected to attract both business travelers and those visiting friends and relatives, a segment that has seen significant growth as the number of Saudis living in the UK has risen fivefold between 2000 and 2018.
Additionally, Riyadh serves as a hub for Virgin Atlantic’s SkyTeam partner, Saudia, offering onward connections to destinations such as Pakistan's Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, as well as further destinations within Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and China.
Saudia is one of two carriers currently serving the London-Riyadh market, flying three times per day between LHR and RUH. British Airways (BA) also provides daily flights between the two airports.
Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic's return to Ghana comes after a 12-year hiatus. The new daily service to Kotoka International Airport (ACC) in Accra will be operated using Boeing 787s.
The UK hosts the third-largest Ghanaian diaspora globally, and the new route will cater to the growing demand for travel between the two countries, particularly from those visiting friends and relatives. Approximately 10% of travelers in this sector are also expected to connect through London onto Virgin Atlantic’s service to New York John F. Kennedy, further expanding the airline’s transatlantic offering.
The carrier will go head-to-head with BA in the London-Accra market, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows. BA currently flies once a day between LHR and ACC using A350-1000s and four times per week between London Gatwick Airport and ACC onboard 777s.
The two new routes for the summer 2025 season come after Virgin Atlantic recently announced expansion in North America with its return to Canada. The airline's first route to the country in more than a decade will commence on March 30, linking LHR and Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). Flights on the LHR-YYZ route will be daily, operating with a mix of A330-300s and A330-900neos.
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