Virgin Atlantic Cargo's restarting of winter season flights from Cape Town is providing a timely boost in capacity for South Africa's general cargo and perishable exporters as they look to take advantage of peak season demand in the U.K. and U.S. consumer markets.

The airline's daily flights ex Cape Town have operated every winter since December 1999 and are in addition to Virgin Atlantic's year-round daily passenger and cargo flights between Johannesburg and London Heathrow.

As well as exports of general cargo, fish and fresh fruits such as berries, grapes and stone fruit to the UK market, customers in South Africa also benefit from Virgin Atlantic's fast connections in London to other prime export destinations in the United States, including New York, Chicago and Miami. Every Airbus A340-300 flight offers 17 tonnes of cargo capacity.

Nick Jones, Head of Sales at Virgin Atlantic Cargo, said: 'Cape Town is a very strong route for us throughput the peak winter season. Currently, as in so many other markets, volumes are slightly down year-on-year but we are confident of another good performance both to and from Cape Town following the withdrawal of other airline capacity.'

During the summer, Virgin Atlantic Cargo continues to route Cape Town traffic ' including a high volume of general cargo - onto its flights from Johannesburg to London, one of the airline's top performing cargo routes.

'We are a well-established winter season carrier from Cape Town and the service levels we offer mean we are successful in retaining our customers' loyalty on a year-round basis,' adds Nick Jones.