Virgin Atlantic Cargo to double daily capacity to Delhi, add Africa and US services

Virgin Atlantic Cargo plans to add a third daily frequency between London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Delhi, India (DEL) the carrier said in an announcement outlining its summer schedule for 2020.

The carrier already offers one daily frequency on the route using a 787 that departs LHR in the evening. Virgin Atlantic also more recently launched a daily service to Mumbai (BOM) using a 787. The airline anticipates continued growth in the India market and noted that exports it carries from India include “high volumes of perishables, pharmaceuticals and courier shipments.”

In addition to the new India service, Virgin Atlantic plans to add an additional weekly service between LHR and San Francisco (SFO), departing on Fridays, and daily service to Johannesburg (JNB) utilizing Virgin Atlantic’s new A350 aircraft. The JNB route will be the first non-U.S. route for which the carrier utilizes the aircraft type.

“These new routes and frequencies for summer 2020 are great news for our cargo customers,” said Dominic Kennedy, managing director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo, in the airline’s statement. “India, South Africa and Nigeria are very important and growing routes for our cargo business, so our commitment to offer more capacity connecting customers in these countries to their prime U.K. and U.S. markets will help to open up opportunities for more import and export growth.”