FROM March next year, Virgin Australia will operate a daily service between Brisbane and Tokyo-Haneda, with management pushing the benefits for freight.
Cargo space on the new route is to be marketed by Virgin Atlantic Cargo under its longstanding international long-haul sales and marketing agreement with Virgin Australia. The daily Airbus A330 flight is to offer between 15-20 tonnes of cargo capacity.
The new route, Virgin Australia’s first-ever service to Tokyo, is expected to attract strong demand from both passengers and cargo customers.
With the launch of the new Brisbane-Tokyo route, Virgin Australia will be suspending its existing Hong Kong-Melbourne service with effect from 11 February 2020 due to softening passenger demand but will continue to closely monitor the route and look to re-enter the market in the future if it is financially viable to do so.
Dominic Kennedy, managing director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said, “Cargo customers in Australia and Japan will be very pleased to see the launch of Tokyo-Haneda services and we expect this new direct route to open up significant opportunities for both imports and exports.
“We also wish to acknowledge the strong support we have enjoyed from the cargo industry for Virgin Australia’s Melbourne-Hong Kong services. Although this route will be stopping in February, we will continue to offer capacity on Virgin Australia’s daily Sydney-Hong Kong flights and provide a direct trucking service between Melbourne and Sydney to ensure customers retain access to the important Hong Kong cargo market.”
Virgin Atlantic Cargo also markets cargo capacity on Virgin Australia’s direct services connecting Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with Los Angeles, where they also link directly into Virgin Atlantic’s international network.
