► GHANA: Virgin Atlantic axes Heathrow - Accra from late September.

AirlineRoute reports that British carrier Virgin Atlantic (VS) is to abandon its five-times weekly service from London Heathrow to Accra, Ghana with effect from September 23. Should the move be confirmed, it would leave Virgin's Africa network at being just Johannesburg, Cape Town and Lagos following its withdrawal from Nairobi, Kenya last year.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Virgin Atlantic Cargo reaping the rewards of deploying the A340-600 on its Johannesburg route.

The introduction of Airbus A340-600 flights between London and Johannesburg during South Africa's peak season has provided a welcome boost in capacity for Virgin Atlantic Cargo (VS) on one of its most in-demand routes.

► TANZANIA: Government confirms in talks with Virgin Atlantic over possible London flights.

The Tanzanian Government has confirmed it is in talks with British carrier Virgin Atlantic (VS) over the possible launch of flights between the United Kingdom and the East African country following British Airways (BA) decision to axe Dar es Salaam from its network effective 31 March.

■ NIGERIA: Government fines British Airways and Virgin $235m over price fixing - again.

A Nigerian Senate Committee on Aviation on Tuesday ordered the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to work with the Nigerian Ministry of Justice and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in ensuring British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic (VS) pay fines of USD135 million and USD100million respectively after both were found guilty on various counts of price fixing and coercion.

► GHANA: Virgin Atlantic to use A330-300s to Accra from 2013.

With effect from 31 March 013, Virgin Atlantic Airways (VK) will employ its Airbus A330-300s on the London Heathrow - Accra route. At present, the route is serviced by an Airbus A340-300.

Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-300

London Heathrow – Accra 5x weekly effective 31 March 2013.

• VS657 LHR2245 – 0500+1ACC 333 x36

• VS658 ACC1010 – 1800LHR 333 x47

Read More Here [Airline Route]

► KENYA: Virgin Atlantic to drop Nairobi from September 2012.

Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways (VS) will, with effect from September 24, end its London Heathrow - Nairobi flights sighting low passenger numbers and higher overheads amongst other factors. No doubt, this will come as relief to Kenya Airways who in January 2012 issued a profit warning for the First Quarter of 2012.

Virgin Atlantic's B747-400

“During the past five years a combination of record fuel prices, higher and higher taxes imposed by the UK Government and a poorly timed slot not providing connections from London, have made it uneconomical to fly from Nairobi,” said Sir Branson in statement from London.

“For the past five years our team in Nairobi have worked incredibly hard and we hope to return should the economic situation change.”

Read More Here [Business Daily Kenya]

This comes at a time when various European carriers are axing various African routes citing route viability problems: of recent note Iberia (Johannesburg),  TAP (Johannesburg).

Virgin Atlantic has stated, however, that it will maintain its other African routes to Accra, Lagos and Johannesburg.