Virgin Atlantic Cargo will double its services between London and Johannesburg with the launch of a second daily flight on October 28. The airline will make use of a Boeing 787-9 aircraft on this route with capacity for up to 24 tonnes of cargo
The carrier also plans to open a local contact centre this April to support customers in South Africa. It said that volumes into the country had risen 5% year-on-year in 2017 and tonnage out of Johannesburg had increased by 4%.
Virgin Atlantic Cargo director, sales Steve Buckerfield described 2017 as “a particularly strong year for both north and southbound cargo volumes” on the route.
In addition to general cargo, the airline has seen an increase in the volume of courier and express business from the US and the UK to South Africa, driven by e-commerce, as well as regular shipments of cars. Northbound traffic includes high volumes of perishables for the UK market plus general cargo.
