Virgin Atlantic is to commence flights to Accra, capital city of Ghana, from London Heathrow on 24th May 2010.

The new services will leave Heathrow on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, returning from Accra on Monday, Friday and Saturday mornings.

The route will be served by an Airbus A340-300 aircraft, with 240 seats: 171 in Economy, 35 in Premium Economy, and 34 in Upper Class. The Upper Class Suites feature a luxurious reclining armchair, which converts to a 79.5 inch fully flat bed with proper mattress. Upper Class passengers also have use of the award-winning Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow.

The airline's Chief Executive, Steve Ridgway, said "We are delighted that we are able to launch services to this fast growing and vibrant capital city with its historic links to Britain, thriving economy and growing oil and gas industry." He claimed the new flights would offer more choice and better value to the nearly 200,000 passengers flying between the two cities annually.

Accra will be the airline's fifth African destination from London: Virgin Atlantic already offers flights to Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi.