VIRGIN ATLANTIC APPOINTS GLOBE AIR CARGO IN DUBAI

Virgin Atlantic Cargo has appointed Globe Air Cargo as its general sales and service agent in Dubai in a move to simplify its freight and courier express sales for customers in the UAE and take advantage of the Dubai market’s strong growth forecast.

The airline carries some 5,000 tonnes a year on its daily flights from Dubai to London Heathrow. As well as the UK market, customers in Dubai use Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s network and fast air and truck connections through London to reach destinations in mainland Europe and the United States, notably New York, Miami and Ohio.

Steve Hughes, Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s Regional Vice President Sales for the EMEA region, said: “Dubai is a very important and growing market for Virgin Atlantic. As well as cargo that originates in the UAE, it is an important connecting point in our network, such as for shipments originating in Colombo, Bangladesh and Sydney that we transport to France the U.S., Canada and Mexico as well as the UK. With the UAE economy set to grow by between 4-5% in 2014, we expect to see Globe Air Cargo, as a leading GSSA in the region, further improving our performance in this market.”

He also acknowledged the strong support of Airline Cargo Resources (ACR), the airline’s former GSSA in Dubai. Virgin Atlantic Cargo previously had separate sales agency partners in the UAE for its freight and courier express services but this has now been brought together through Globe Air Cargo, part of ECS Cargo, following the start of the new contract earlier this month.  

Virgin Atlantic has served Dubai for over eight years and its daily Airbus A330-300 flights each offer some 20 tonnes of cargo capacity.

Shiranka Leo, Managing Director of Globe Air Cargo FZE, said: “Virgin Atlantic Cargo has a global reputation for the quality of its service and we are proud that it has chosen to partner with ECS Group in the UAE. The airline is well-established in the UAE market and with daily services from Dubai and a great international network beyond London, we are confident of growing its cargo and courier express business from the region.”

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About Virgin Atlantic Cargo

At Virgin Atlantic Cargo, customers are at the heart of everything we do and it’s our passion for customer service that ranks us among the best airlines in the world, with 13 international ‘Cargo Airline of the Year’ awards since 2002. 

In 2013, our turnover of £225.3m exceeded expectations in a challenging global market and meant we outperformed the market for the second consecutive year. Our tonnage rose 5% to 224,500 tonnes last year  in a market that declined 0.5% overall and we recorded the highest ever cargo load factor in our 30-year history of 76%, up 6% year-on-year and well ahead of the industry average.

Today our customers enjoy flying their cargo with Virgin Atlantic to more than 350 destinations worldwide, including those of our partner Virgin Australia. Our own direct services operate from Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington DC in the Americas as well as destinations in the Caribbean, Hong Kong and Shanghai in China, Dubai, Delhi and Mumbai in India, Tokyo in Japan, Lagos in Nigeria, Vancouver in Canada, and Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa.