Virgin Atlantic Cargo has boosted its presence in Australia by appointing Amanda Matar as its account manager in Sydney.

According to Virgin Atlantic, Matar’s appointment supports the airline’s increased long-haul cargo sales and management services for Virgin Australia, which is launching a five-weekly Boeing 777-300ER flight between Melbourne and Los Angeles this month.

Matar reports to Pip Palmer, who was appointed regional sales manager of Australia and New Zealand for Virgin Atlantic in 2016.

“I know our customers in Sydney will enjoy working with Amanda,” said Palmer. “As a former customer of Virgin Atlantic Cargo, Amanda clearly understands what our freight forwarding partners expect in terms of great service, which is at the heart of everything we do. The fact that Virgin Australia now serves Los Angeles from the three biggest gateways in Australia – Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne – and connects directly into the Virgin Atlantic network over LAX, means we can not only support our customers with the high level of service they expect but also offer more choice than ever before.”

Matar previously spent seven years at Megatop Cargo in Australia, where she worked in import and export customer service and was export manager for the past three years. She has also worked as a cargo reservations officer at Garuda Indonesia Airlines.

Virgin Atlantic Cargo is also in the process of recruiting an account manager in Melbourne.

Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia have worked together since 2009 and signed a new long-term cargo agreement in 2016.