Virgin Atlantic will now fly to Ghana’s Capital Accra
Three services per week from 24 May 2010

Virgin Atlantic, one of the world’s leading airlines will be launching flights between Heathrow and Accra, the capital of Ghana, from 24 May 2010. The airline plans to operate three services a week, subject to government approval, using an Airbus A340-300 aircraft with 240 seats onboard -34 Upper Class, 35 Premium Economy and 171 Economy.

Excited CEO Steve Ridgway of the airline which celebrated its 25 years last June, says that he is very delighted that Virgin 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. Virgin Atlantic’s new services will bring much needed competition onto this route, breaking BA’s virtual monopoly. Nearly 200,000 people fly between London and Accra each year and our new services will give them more choice and better value for money. Read more

Is there really anything like budget travel?
The real cost of “budget” flying
Checking a bag into the hold and using a credit card could add almost thirty per cent* onto the advertised price of some “budget” airline tickets, shows new research from Which? Holiday.
For the research they compared the prices of four of the UK’s largest no-frills airlines on flights to four different destinations. The research also looked at the charges incurred on these flights for checking a piece of luggage into the hold and for paying with a credit card. Prices were for a three-night break between 11 and 16 February 2010 – here are the findings:
• The price of a flight to Paris with bmiBaby increased by around 25 per cent when one piece of hold luggage was checked in and the ticket was booked using a credit card, and the price of a flight to Malaga increased by 23 per cent.
• Ryanair charges £50 extra across all its routes for checking in a hold bag and paying with a credit card; an increase of between 8 per cent and 29 per cent on the advertised cost of the fare.
• Although Jet2 were found to add the most to the cost of a flight for the charges - £92.16 – this was an increase of just 10 per cent on the advertised ticket price.
• Easyjet consistently had the lowest luggage and card charges of the four airlines looked at, ranging from £26 - £38 extra. However, in one case this still amounted to a 17 per cent increase on the advertised price**.
Rochelle Turner, Head of Research for Which? Holiday, says:
“It’s hard to believe that any airline could justify increasing the ticket price by almost a third just for checking a bag into the hold and paying on a credit card – two services that not too long ago were included in the headline price.
“Airlines argue that they are being fairer to customers who don’t use these services. But, in reality, how many people don’t use a credit or debit card to pay for their flights, or travel without luggage? These aren’t extra services. They are part and parcel of taking a flight.”
* The cost of a ticket on a Ryanair flight between East Midlands airport and Malaga increased by 29.1 per cent when a bag was checked into the hold and the ticket was paid for using a credit card. (£121.98 to £171.98)
** On a flight between East Midlands airport and Faro, the cost of an Easyjet ticket increased by 17.6 per cent when a bag was checked into the hold and the ticket was paid for using a credit card. (£121.96 to £147.96).

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