How Virgin Atlantic’s New Riyadh & Accra Service Opens New Global Connections For Delta In The USA

Virgin Atlantic

(VS) has announced that it will be launching flights to two destinations for this summer, notably Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Accra (Ghana). The service to the Saudi capital is a new flight, while the latter destination is a service resumption after more than a decade hiatus. Both flights will operate on a daily basis, with the airline highlighting the importance of connections from North America to fill its planes.

Virgin Atlantic

IATA/ICAO Code

VS/VIR

Year Founded

1984

CEO

Shai Weiss

Expand

Analyzing the new flights & their competition

Riyadh

The service from

London Heathrow Airport

(LHR) to

Riyadh Airport

(RUH) will operate daily with an Airbus A330neo. The timings of the flight are listed below.

The carrier maintains, though, that the service is still subject to both government and slot approvals. Flights will begin on March 30, 2025 in time for the summer season. The reasons why VS decided to operate to the Saudi capital are threefold, according to its press release:

• Economic: VS wants to capitalise on the growth expected through Saudi’s ambitious vision 2030 plan. Trade between the UK and Saudi is projected to become more pronounced as a result. Currently, these bilateral trade relations are worth £17.1 billion ($22.4 billion) a figure that is hoped to reach £30 billion ($39.3 billion) by 2030. Air travel between the UK and Saudi Arabia is “forecast to grow 24% between 2019-2035.”
• Visiting friends and relatives: Aside from the business focus, VS says the market for visiting friends and relatives traffic between the two countries has seen a “fivefold increase in Saudis living in the UK between 2000 and 2018.”
• Cargo: The aircraft will offer 30 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight allowing imports and exports to travel by plane.

Photo: Virgin Atlantic

Two airlines currently offer flights on the LHR to RUH sector. Cirium data shows that

British Airways

offers a daily service, with a grand total of 1645 seats per week. Saudia, on the other hand, also flies on the sector but does so double-daily, offering more than double the capacity. Its weekly seats total 4060 as it uses a Boeing 777-300ER which has more capacity than the British Airways 777-200ER on the same route.

Accra

In contrast to Riyadh, the LHR to

Accra

Kotoka International Airport (ACC) service is only subject to government approvals now, indicating that slots have already been secured. The flights will operate with a Boeing 787-9 once a day. The flight times are as follows.

Note the near four-hours spent on the ground in Accra, likely to account for the importance of connections on this service. By timing the return to London correctly, Virgin Atlantic can leverage its own network as well as that of its codeshare partners, to fill its new Accra flight. The carrier has listed several reasons for which it launched this route:

• Competition: VS says there is a lack of choice of routes between the two countries. On this same sector for June 2025, Cirium data shows British Airways will operate daily, offering 2317 seats per week with an A350-1000.
• Diaspora: In the same vein of VFR traffic, VS hopes to capitalise on the Ghanian population in the UK. The UK is home “to the third largest Ghanaian diaspora in the world”.
• Cargo: Once again, cargo comes into play with the 787-9 offering around 30 tonnes of capacity for fresh produce and goods for delivery in the US or UK.

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Connections

US connections

Connections to North America are key to both routes. Riyadh for example is timed such that passengers can connect from VS and

Delta Air Lines

(DL) services to and from London Heathrow. This includes cities such as Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Boston and Detroit. The wide range of options will no doubt help VS establish itself against British Airways on this route.

To a much lesser extent, a similar situation will be observed on the Accra sector. VS says that around 10% of the carrier’s passengers “are also expected to connect through London onto Virgin Atlantic’s New York JFK service.”

Some, including route analyst Behramjee Ghadially, believe that the limited connections on offer for the Accra route will mean that it will “take some real effort and patience” for the route to be successful. It will nevertheless provide healthy competition against other airlines that offer one-stop connections between London and Accra.

This is the case for Brussels Airlines, for example, which leverages its Heathrow to Brussels route almost exclusively to facilitate connections and fill its Africa network and other medium/long haul services.

Photo: The Global Guy | Shutterstock

Cargo connections to and from the US are also going to be offered.

Saudia & Riyadh Air

The carrier also has an agreement with SkyTeam partner

Saudia

. This will allow it to offer additional connections from Riyadh, including to cities in Pakistan which constitutes a fairly significant market.

The cities on offer include Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Connections to Bangladesh and China will also be added to the agreement as “the airline continues to grow its strategic partnership with Saudia.”

Riyadh Air and VS also signed an agreement earlier today, laying the “foundations for a long-term relationship” which could include “codeshare connectivity, as well as a potential deeper partnership which could encompass loyalty benefits.”

Virgin Atlantic’s Toronto flight

Virgin Atlantic has been taking full advantage of its expansive network to facilitate new routes. It spans destinations primarily in North America to the west, and Asian cities in the East with a focus on India.

The airline’s new Toronto flight is also a testament to this strategy, with flights timed in order to facilitate connections to Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. In a statement, Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Commercial Officer Juha Jarvinen 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.

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.”