Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited has signed a new contract with Virgin Atlantic Cargo to handle Virgin Australia’s new flight between Melbourne and Hong Kong.

The new flight is operated five times weekly with an Airbus A330-200, which has a bellyhold capacity of approximately 14 tonnes.

“There is strong demand for air cargo capacity from Hong Kong to Australia driven increasingly by e-commerce, and the new services are well-placed to tap into growing perishables traffic from Australia, destined for Hong Kong and China,” said Mark Whitehead, chief executive of Hactl. “These new Virgin Australia flights add significantly to the impressive collective coverage of the Hactl carrier community of over 100 airlines, amplifying interline and hub-and-spoke opportunities.”

Cargo sales on Virgin Australia’s flights are being marketed and handled by Virgin Atlantic, which currently operates a daily Boeing 787-9 flight between London Heathrow and Hong Kong. Hactl has handled cargo for the airline since it started flying to Hong Kong in 1994.

“We welcome this opportunity to be extending our long-standing working relationship with Hactl,” said John Lloyd, managing director of Virgin Atlantic Cargo. “Having worked together for over 23 years, the Hactl team are well aware of the high service levels we expect for our customers and we are confident they will play an important role in helping us develop this great new route for Virgin Australia.”