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Two new Virgin Atlantic destinations
Virgin Atlantic has announced two new routes flying from London Heathrow for summer 2025.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Flights to Riyadh will operate daily on the airline’s A330neo, the newest aircraft in Virgin Atlantic’s fleet, with the first flight departing London Heathrow on 30 March 2025. These aircraft have by far the best Upper Class seats on Virgin and also feature the larger Retreat suite which can be booked for a small amount extra.
Riyadh is also home to Virgin’s SkyTeam partner, Saudia. The partnership will offer onward connections to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, with further destinations within Saudi Arabia and to Bangladesh and China to follow as the airline continues to grow its partnership with Saudia. Flying Club members will earn and redeem Virgin Points across Saudia’s flying programme, alongside SkyTeam partners. All Saudia operated flights from London Heathrow and Manchester to Riyadh and Jeddah are already marketed by Virgin Atlantic, and on sale.
Return to Accra, Ghana
Virgin Atlantic will return to Ghana for the first time since 2013, with daily flights to Kotoka International Airport in the nation’s capital, Accra, from May 2025.
Launching on 1 May 2025, the daily service will operate on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft which does have the old Virgin seats but also an onboard bar.
| Route | Launch date | Frequency | Time | Aircraft Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riyadh (RUH)
Route is subject to government and slot approvals. |
30 March 2025 | Daily | LHR-RUH VS242 14:45 / 23:35RUH – LHR VS243 01:25 / 07:00 |
A330neo |
| Accra (ACC)
Route is subject to government approvals |
1 May 2025 | Daily | LHR – ACC VS403 22:30 / 05:00(+1)ACC – LHR VS404 09:15 / 17:25 |
Boeing 787-9
|
| Toronto (YYZ) | 30 March 2025 | Daily
|
LHR – YYZ VS147 17:10/ 20:30YYZ – LHR VS148 20:20/ 10:30 (+1) |
A330-300 and A330neo |
Virgin Atlantic also 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 30th March 2025, with direct flights between London Heathrow and Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Qatar Privilege Club 50% Avios bonus
If you need to buy Avios, then you would be better off buying from Qatar Airways at the moment as they have a new bonus of up to 50% extra Avios. You can transfer Avios from Qatar to BA’s Executive Club instantly.
- 5,000 Avios and get 20% bonus Avios
- 16,000 Avios and get 30% bonus Avios
- 36,000 Avios and get 50% bonus Avios
You can find the offer page here.
Decent ex UK and Dublin fares
As well as the BA sale which we wrote about here, there are some good deals around if you are looking to get extra tier points or just a decent deal. If you have not flown Finnair yet, this could be a great way to enjoy a cheap fare.
Dublin – US West Coast from £1150
There are some new offers from Dublin to smaller airports in the US on the six-month advance purchase offer from early March 2025:
- Palm Springs £1150
- Las Vegas £1284
- Phoenix £1415
- Reno £1152
- Vancouver £1396
- Tuscon £1152
The rules on this fare are:
- From Europe – Permitted Tue/Wed/Thu on each transatlantic sector.
- To Europe – Permitted Mon/Tue/Wed on each transatlantic sector.
- 6 month advance purchase
- Saturday night stay required
You can book the fare with British Airways.
440 TPs London to Dubai
If you are looking for tier points, the fare from London to Dubai via Helsinki with Finnair is a good one. This routes you via Helsinki, so it will yield a total of 440 TPs for around £1395-1500. Finnair uses long-haul aircraft on up to two flights a day from London, so you could have one of Finnair’s new flatbed business class seats the whole way.
This fare is available from January onwards on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it does require a 6-day minimum stay. You may also want to consider a BA Holiday sale offer to Doha instead as fares are around £1500 and you don’t need to stay 6 days.
1 comment
The Qatar Avios offer of +50% runs out tomorrow, this makes an Avios point 1.167p each or 1.147p if using BA Amex. I’m considering buying some to top up my depleted balance but wondered if you think it’s likely we’ll see better offers, maybe from BA, in the not to distant future?
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