Virgin Atlantic Cargo is all set to re-launch its Mumbai- London Heathrow flight to regain hold in the international cargo market. The Mumbai-London Heathrow flight starting from October 27 will provide 26 tons of cargo capacity.
Earlier the airlines was serving Indian market through its partnership with Jet Airways, now when the operations of Jet Airways have been suspended, Virgin Atlantic is seeing this as an opportunity to provide alternative options to its customers.
Virgin Atlantic’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft will provide the services between India and the USA via Heathrow international airport. The new route will complement the existing long-haul London-Delhi route.
Dominic Kennedy, Managing Director, Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said, “For 19 glorious years we have been providing services to vibrant cargo market in India. Our cargo revenue grew by 10 per cent in India with resilient support for our daily Delhi flights.”
He said that the Mumbai market is equally buoyant. With the constant rise in the overall market from Mumbai to UK and US has been increased by more than 50 per cent in revenue terms. Vice-versa it increased by 46 per cent from both the countries.
As we resume Mumbai operations in October, we aim to win a strong share of this growing market, supported by our fast and easy connections over London to and from major cities across the US.
Outlining the pharma cargo handling services, he said, with our enhanced capabilities for handling pharmaceuticals, one of the main types of shipments ex Mumbai we aim to add more capacity for our import and export customers.
The new Mumbai-Heathrow flight will mark Virgin Atlantic’s 27th daily service from London Heathrow. The carrier will also commence flights to Tel Aviv, Israel from September this year. It will also make its first venture into South America with flights to So Paulo, Brazil, starting in 2020.
