Air, Feature, Freight News

São Paulo to be Virgin’s first South American city

[ March 20, 2019   //   Chris ]

Virgin Atlantic Cargo is to launch flights between London Heathrow and São Paulo, Brazil in 2020. A daily 787 will offer several tonnes of capacity on the carrier’s first foray into South America and will give direct access into the continent’s largest import and export market and the largest base city in the Americas after New York for multinational.

Virgin expects to carry regular shipments of car parts, pharmaceuticals, food and agricultural products.

Managing director, cargo, Dominic Kennedy (pictured), commented: “Brazil is the powerhouse of South America and we are excited to be flying to this continent for the first time. Alongside the launch of Tel Aviv services in September, this new phase of growth for Virgin Atlantic means we are giving customers more choice to two of the world’s most dynamic cargo markets at a time when both are enjoying increasing prosperity, driven by their thriving business and consumer communities.”

Virgin Atlantic will take delivery of the first four of 12 Airbus A350-1000s during 2019 which will deliver a 10-22% improvement in lower deck cargo capacity depending on the aircraft’s configuration. The airline will also move to a new cargo terminal at Heathrow, twice the size of its existing operation.

The airline also looks forward to becoming the founding member of a new transatlantic joint venture alongside Delta, Air France and KLM as well as launching new services from London Heathrow to Las Vegas and Manchester to Los Angeles.

 

Tags: Virgin