New e-bookings choice for Virgin Cargo

Virgin Atlantic Cargo has launched an e-bookings service based on Unisys’ Cargo Portal Services (CPS) technology, providing another option for booking shipments online.

Customers can now use CPS to make bookings and track shipments on a 24/7 basis regardless of geography or time zone, including for transit legs and trucking services. CPS is delivered via Software-as-as-Service (Saas) hosted by Unisys.

To make bookings, customers log on to www.cargoportalservices.com and follow prompts to register with CPS and Virgin.

The launch of e-bookings via CPS followed a successful six month trial of the service by Virgin Atlantic, involving customers who had expressed an interest in online booking channels.

John Lloyd, director of cargo at Virgin Atlantic, said: "Our customers can already book online with us via the Virgin Atlantic Cargo website but we recognise that many of our clients use multi-carrier services, like CPS, and this will make it even easier and faster for those customers to book their shipments with us.

"We want to ensure customers have the choice they need when they do business with us. That means combining e-solutions alongside the important personal contacts our customers already enjoy with the staff in our contact centres."

Christopher Shawdon, vice president Logistics Solutions at Unisys, said: "As a global carrier, Virgin Atlantic Cargo is an important addition to the CPS family. In turn, they will benefit from reaching a user base of potential customers in 100 countries.”

More than 2,100 freight forwarding companies regularly use CPS for cargo bookings. Globally, CPS processes over one million e-bookings per year.