The newly launched airline Virgin Nigeria is scheduled to start flying from Lagos to Accra, the capital of Ghana, next week. From July 20 it will operate two round trips a day using Airbus A320 aircraft.

Virgin Nigeria began flying to London last month. Since then it has launched domestic services from Lagos to Abuja and Port Harcourt. Schedules allow day trips to and from all three short-haul destinations. Simon Harford, chief executive, hopes the airline, which is majority-owned by Nigerian investors with the balance held by Virgin Atlantic, will be operating on about nine routes by spring 2006.