Virgin Atlantic Cargo has been named ‘Cargo Airline of the Year’ in the prestigious annual awards organised by Air Cargo News, based on votes from its 54,000 readers globally.

John Lloyd, Director of Cargo at Virgin Atlantic, was presented with the award by Mark Whitehead, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) at a gala awards dinner in London attended by over 500 air cargo industry leaders from around the world.

John said: “We are extremely proud to have been voted ‘Cargo Airline of the Year’ by the readers of Air Cargo News in the year when we celebrate our 30th anniversary. On behalf of everyone at Virgin, I want to thank all of our customers that took the time to vote for us. We are really passionate about customer service and we instil this in everyone in our business. To win this award where we are judged alongside the world’s leading air cargo carriers, is therefore very special indeed.”

Cargo Airline of the Year is the world’s oldest air cargo awards event having started 31 years ago. Each year, customers across the industry are invited to vote for their favourite carriers based on their efficiency, service and ease of use.

Winning the award comes just days after Virgin Atlantic Cargo reported better than expected results for 2013 with a turnover of £225.3m. During the year, the airline achieved a 5% increase in tonnage to 224,500 tonnes as well as its highest-ever cargo load factor of 76%, up 6% year-on-year and well ahead of the industry average.

Virgin Atlantic Cargo has won 13 industry awards since 2002 for the quality of its customer service and operational performance.

Virgin Atlantic Cargo press release