Virgin Atlantic Cargo will continue to provide international long-haul cargo sales and management for Virgin Australia, Australia’s second largest airline, through a new long-term agreement.

The extension of the longstanding partnership between the two airlines follows last year’s launch of Virgin Australia Cargo to manage the cargo operations of Virgin Australia across its extensive domestic and short-haul international network.

The two airlines have worked together since February 2009 with Virgin Atlantic responsible for all cargo revenues on Virgin Australia’s long-haul flights to and from Sydney and Brisbane and Los Angeles.

Once in Los Angeles, Virgin Australia’s B777s, which offer up to 30 tonnes of cargo capacity, seamlessly connecting with Virgin Atlantic’s worldwide cargo network, Virgin Atlantic said. It will also market the cargo capacity on Virgin Australia’s three flights a week connecting Sydney and Abu Dhabi when they resume in September.

Leading the sales activities in Australia and New Zealand is Phillippa (Pip) Palmer – Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s newly-appointed Regional Sales Manager for Australia & New Zealand. Palmer joined the airline’s cargo team in 2010 from Virgin Atlantic’s passenger contact centre in Sydney and has since held both customer service and account management roles.

John Lloyd, senior VP Cargo at Virgin Atlantic, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our longstanding partnership with Virgin Australia and the freight forwarding community in Australia. In her new role, Pip will continue to build on the excellent relationships she and our local sales team have established with our customers in Australia and New Zealand. It is also great news for our sales team in the US who can continue to provide our customers with a direct cargo service to Australia.”

Palmer added: “In 2015, our total volumes ex-Australia to the U.S. increased by 5.0 per cent year-on-year and ex-US to Australia by 4.0 per cent in what was and remains, a highly competitive market. We aim to earn the growing support of our customers by ensuring they continue to experience the best possible customer service and network connections.”

Chief executive of Virgin Australia Cargo Merren McArthur commented: “Virgin Australia Cargo recognises the value of leveraging Virgin Atlantic’s expertise and brand in the long-haul international air cargo market and is delighted to continue this successful partnership.”