ACU March-19 Final Draft

GLOBAL NEWS
Virgin Atlantic to launch daily
London-Tel Aviv flights this year
China's Changsa City
to launch 1 passenger
and 4 freight flights
LONDON: Virgin Atlantic is
launching new daily flights between
London Heathrow and Tel Aviv on 25
September, envisioned to provide
m o r e i m p o r t a n d e x p o r t
opportunities for customers in the UK,
US and Israel seeking additional
cargo capacity.
The route will offer a fast cargo
service from Tel Aviv for goods such as
high value precious stones, fresh
produce, high-tech and electrical
products, pharmaceutical and
express shipments to prime markets
in the UK and US, and offer more
choice for companies exporting a
wide range of cargoes to Israel. Virgin
Atlantic's daily Airbus A330-300
flights will offer 20 tons of capacity on
each service.
“2019 marks the start of a new
phase of growth for Virgin Atlantic as
we work to achieve our ambition to
become the most loved travel
company. Tel Aviv represents a
fantastic opportunity for us - Israel's
economy is booming and as one of
the world's leading tech hubs we're
anticipating many business travellers
and entrepreneurs flying between Tel
Aviv and the UK,” said Shai Weiss,
Virgin Atlantic CEO.
“ We a l s o s e e a s i g n i fi c a n t
opportunity to increase competition
in the US – Tel Aviv market, using the
strength of our trans-Atlantic Joint
Venture with Delta to offer customers
from Tel Aviv a wide range of US
destinations connecting through
London Heathrow including New
York and San Francisco. It also
promises to be a strong route for
cargo,” he added.
2018 saw particularly strong
growth in shipments of pharmaceuticals,
perishables and high-tech
cargo to Tel Aviv, which rose 35%, 7%
and 5% year-on-year, respectively,
according to market data.
“This is a really exciting new route
for us and plays to our strengths in
terms of quick connections to and
from US and our proven expertise in
carrying the major types of products
moving in and out of Israel. We expect
c a r g o t o m a k e a s i g n i fi c a n t
contribution to the success of the
route,” added Dominic Kennedy,
Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic
Cargo.
CHANGSA: The capital of
China's Hunan province,
Changsa City, is launching five
new international passenger
and freight flights this year,
according to state media
reports.
The city is reportedly
opening up passenger flight to
Africa and four freight flights
to Europe, North America, and
Southeast Asia.
The idea is to create a
multimodal transportation
network consisting of the
China Railway Express, Xianing
water transport, flying, and
trucking.
Last year, eight international
freight flights to Dacca, North
America (Chicago, Halifax) and
Manila were established from
Changsa, the media reported.
Meanwhile, Beijing reported
China's cargo throughput at
ports grew by 9.1 percent to
around 1.14 billion metric tons
in January compared to the
same month in 2018.
China's Ministry of Transport
said foreign trade cargo
throughput amounted to 378
million tons, up 5.9 percent
year-on-year, while domestic
trade saw a higher growth of
10.8 percent during the period.
The country's steadily
growing waterway freight
volume is fueling much of the
growth in the container
throughput at ports.