Following a positive start to 2018 for cargo volumes on Virgin Australia’s existing services from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Los Angeles and its Melbourne-Hong Kong route, Virgin Atlantic Cargo says customers will welcome the prospect of additional capacity on board the new Airbus A330 flights, on such a prime route to and from Greater China.
Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: “Sydney-Hong Kong is a route we know very well having operated it ourselves until mid-2014 so we are delighted to be back in this market and able to offer customers more choice on a route that generates high volumes in both directions.
“The big shift in the market since 2014 is the significant rise of e-commerce volumes driven by the growth of online shopping in Australia and China. The launch of this important new route is coming at a prime time for air cargo capacity demand to and from Australia,” Kennedy asserted.
Each flight from Australia is expected to offer 15-20 tonnes of cargo capacity, although Virgin Atlantic achieved a new record of 25,431 kilogrammes on a single flight from Melbourne earlier this year.
Load factors from Hong Kong to Melbourne have soared by close to 90% as a result of e-commerce shipments from China to Australia, and Virgin Atlantic expects to see similar volumes into Sydney. From Australia, regular cargo will include courier traffic, perishables, milk powder and vitamins.