Virgin Australia has announced that it will launch Virgin Australia Cargo on July 1, 2015, as part of the company’s Virgin Vision 2017 strategy.

“Virgin Australia will now actively compete in the domestic and short haul international cargo market for the first time,” said Merren McArthur, group executive at Virgin Australia Cargo. “We will leverage the famous Virgin Australia customer focused culture to deliver exceptional service at competitive rates. We understand that reliability and price are key drivers of customer choice in the domestic and short haul international cargo market.  These are both areas in which Virgin Australia excels and so Virgin Australia Cargo will be well placed to compete in this market.”

The launch of Virgin Australia’s dedicated cargo division will coincide with the end of the company’s current exclusive arrangement with the Toll Group. For long haul routes, Virgin Australia will continue to partner with Virgin Atlantic for the sale and management of cargo capacity.

Virgin Australia’s fleet consists of two Airbus A320s, six Airbus A330-200s, 14 ATR 72s, two Boeing 737-700s, 74 Boeing 737-800s, five Boeing 777-300ERs, 18 Embraer ERJ-190s, eight Fokker F50s and 10 Fokker F100s.