Flights from the US to Accra

United Airlines will start a non-stop daily service to Accra on June 20, 2010. Flights will depart Washington DC at 10.10pm and arrive in Ghana's capital city the following day at 12.40pm. United is offering a special introductory fare to launch the new service. They're hoping to continue the flight on to Lagos, pending approval from Nigerian officials I'm not holding my breath.

I also bumped into the Executive Vice President for Air Arik recently. This Nigerian based airline flies direct between JFK and Lagos three times a week. You can check the availability online but you have to e-mail uscustomerservices@arikairint.com to make a reservation.Delta Airlines currently flies to Dakar, Cairo and Accra from JFK, and to Johannesburg and Lagos from Atlanta.Of course South African Airlines have added to their roster and fly out of DC and NY direct to Johannesburg every day. Flights now leave the US in the evening to arrive in time for further connections within Southern Africa. They also have a special offer for a round trip flight to Jo'burg for under $1000. That will of course come to an abrupt halt closer to the 2010 World Cup, where the tickets literally quadruple in price. Maybe SAA will make it more affordable soon, since ticket sales aren't quite as good as expected. Watch this space for more news.

Ethiopian Airlines has an almost direct flight out of DC to Addis Ababa, a brief re-fueling stop in Rome is all that's added on. Royal Air Moroc and EgyptAir also have daily direct flights from New York to Casablanca and Cairo respectively.And if you don't mind stopping over for a few comfortable hours in Dubai, Emirates just keeps adding to their African portfolio, and is certainly the way to go if you're headed to the Seychelles, Nairobi and other destinations.