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Virgin Atlantic announced today that it is launching three new and returning international routes next spring/summer. All three will connect to its London Heathrow Airport (LHR) hub.
The new additions kick off with daily flights to/from King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this coming March. In 2023, annual trade between the UK and Saudi Arabia was worth £17.1 billion. This looks to grow to £30 billion of trade by 2030. Air travel between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia is forecast to grow 24% between 2019 and 2035. This route will be flown with an Airbus A330neo aircraft. It offers 32 Upper Class (Business Class), 46 Premium Economy, and 165 Economy Class seats.
Virgin Atlantic will also return to Ghana for the first time since 2013. The carrier will fly daily to/from Kotoka International Airport (ACC) in Accra, Ghana beginning in May 2025. British Airways currently offers this route daily and the reinstatement of this route will add some needed competition. The UK is home to the third largest Ghanaian diaspora in the world. Around 10% of passengers are also expected to connect through London onto Virgin Atlantic’s New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) service. The route will be operated with Boeing 787-9 aircraft. These offer 31 Upper Class (Business Class), 35 Premium Economy, and 192 Economy Class seats.
Finally, Virgin is bringing back flights to/from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). This is the first Canadian route added to the map in over a decade. Toronto is Canada’s financial hub and Virgin Atlantic will begin offering nonstop flights on March 30th using a mix of Airbus A330-300 and Airbus A330neo aircraft.
Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic, 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.”
Anthony’s Take: I have never flown Virgin Atlantic, but its flights from Tampa are on my list. As my focus has shifted to Delta, this opens the opportunity. I’ll be looking for some good deals on the Toronto flights.
(Image Credits: Virgin Atlantic.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
