Virgin Atlantic Cargo has appointed Jarrod Paterson as its account manager in Melbourne to support Virgin Australia’s new long-haul flights from Melbourne.

Virgin Australia launched a five-times-weekly Airbus A330-200 flight between Melbourne and Hong Kong in July 2017 and a five-times-weekly Boeing 777-300ER flight between Melbourne and Los Angeles in April 2017. All cargo sales and management activities are handled by Virgin Atlantic.

According to Virgin, Paterson joins from GSA Australia Cargo, where he spent almost four years as station manager in Victoria. He has also worked for Pacific Network, World Aviation, ACP Worldwide, Toll dnata Airport Services, Wymap Group and Air Menzies International.

“Our customers in Australia are delighted to have the opportunity to book their cargo directly from Melbourne to both Los Angeles and Hong Kong, two prime air cargo destinations and also important gateways to other markets,” said Pip Palmer, regional sales manager of Australia and New Zealand at Virgin Atlantic Cargo. “Jarrod’s appointment in Melbourne follows Amanda Matar joining us recently as account manager in Sydney and means we are increasing the local support we offer customers in line with the growth of Virgin Australia’s long-haul network.”

Virgin Atlantic Cargo also markets the cargo capacity on Virgin Australia’s flights from Sydney and Brisbane to Los Angeles, where cargo can also connect with Virgin Atlantic’s flights to London.