UK-based airliner Virgin Atlantic Cargo has witnessed a 3% year-on-year jump in H1, 2018.
Latest figures show that the airline carried 116,300 tonnes in H1 of 2018, as it continues to make progress year after year.
The growth witnessed at Virgin follows IATA insight that the air cargo market as a whole witnessed a jump in H1, 2018.
IATA: Global Air Cargo Sees July Jump
Dominic Kennedy, managing director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: “We have achieved a very positive start to the year with most markets reporting growth.
“We continue to see benefits from our strategic focus on pharma as well as other core products and services, including express, high value cargoes and automotive.
“Exchange rates and other external factors may slow some parts of the air cargo market in the second half of 2018 but with the momentum we have built, alongside the benefits of our partnerships with Delta Cargo and Virgin Australia, our expectations for the rest of the year remain positive.”
A statement from Virgin read: “The opening of the airline’s Pharma Zone at Heathrow in Q4 2017, and confirmation of its Good Distribution Practice (GDP) compliance in April, helped to grow Virgin Atlantic’s pharma-business by more than 50% compared to the first six months of last year as tightening regulatory requirements increased customers’ preference for airlines offering GDP-compliant services.”
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