United just added another popular African city to its long-haul route map!
On Friday, the carrier began year-round service between Washington, D.C. (IAD) and Accra, Ghana (ACC). United 996 departs IAD at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, returning at 11:45 p.m. as United 997 the following day.
It’s the first of two routes the airline plans to launch this spring to fill a gap left by South African Airways, which has long struggled to turn a profit and was forced to begin scaling back its global operations even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
United vice president of international network planning and alliances Patrick Quayle was among the passengers on Friday’s first flight to ACC, which was operated by a 787-8 Dreamliner with 28 Polaris business seats, 21 Premium Plus seats, 36 in Economy Plus and 158 seats in coach.
