Virgin to expand airfreight service to the U.S.

Virgin Atlantic Cargo is launching a new daily service from London to Seattle, and additional flights from Manchester to the United States in 2017.    Virgin Atlantic Cargo is expanding its airfreight services in the United States in 2017, the company said in a statement.
   The air cargo subsidiary of Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., which offers belly hold capacity on passenger flights, is launching a new daily service from London to Seattle starting March 26.
   According to John Lloyd, senior vice president of cargo at Virgin Atlantic, Seattle is a top-15 import/export market for U.K.-U.S. trade, and demand levels suggest Virgin will be able to capture a “strong share of the market.”
   “It is clearly an important and growing origin, transit and destination point for cargo as demonstrated by the 10.2 percent increase in tonnage in 2016 through Seattle-Tacoma,” he added.
   Virgin Atlantic Cargo will also commence direct, three times weekly flights from Manchester to San Francisco starting March 28, and a new twice-weekly route between Manchester and Boston March 29. At the end of May, the airline will provide daily flights between Manchester and the John F. Kennedy airport in New York City.
   In addition, Virgin in April will begin a new weekly service from London Gatwick Airport to Varadero, Cuba.
   “2016 was a challenging year for everyone, so we are very encouraged by the growth in our volumes from the U.K. to the U.S, which were boosted by particularly strong increases on our routes to Atlanta, Miami, New York JFK and San Francisco,” said Lloyd. “With the launch of Seattle and our commitment to customers in the North of England, we are optimistic of further growth in 2017.”
   Already a leading airfreight carrier in the U.S., Virgin provides roughly 30 percent of transatlantic cargo capacity and saw tonnage from the U.K. to the U.S. increase 8.4 percent year-over-year in 2016, according to company figures.