Specialist air cargo operations and compliance partner, TCE, and Virgin Atlantic Airways’ cargo division, Virgin Atlantic Cargo, recently celebrated the first year of their European partnership in an event with customers in Amsterdam. Alongside a highly successful year of growth and enhanced processes, the cooperation is out of the ordinary as it extends to the joint sponsorship of a world class Dutch darts player, Gian Van Veen.

Over the past twelve months, TCE and Virgin Atlantic Cargo have built a solid, pan European partnership that combines specialist operational expertise with a shared commitment to customer centric innovation. Together, they have delivered strong revenue growth, optimised processes, and a seamlessly coordinated trucking and capacity network feeding Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s long haul services out of London Heathrow, while consistently meeting ambitious performance targets. This first year has laid the foundations for an even closer commercial collaboration, creating the ideal platform to jointly support Gian Van Veen’s rise on the global darts scene and to further expand Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s European footprint.

“At TCE, we go far beyond what is expected of a traditional GSA. Not only is our product portfolio unique in the air cargo industry, but we also take our partnerships to another level. Together with Virgin Atlantic Cargo, we began sponsoring Gian Van Veen this year,” says Sarah Scheibe, Managing Director of TCE. “Gian is currently the world’s Number 3 and Dutch Number 1 professional darts player, following his impressive games in the 2026 World Championship Finals. And he is a true aviation enthusiast having studied aviation in Amsterdam and even worked within AERION before focusing on the sport as a professional.”

Nicknamed ‘The Giant’ on account of being 1.93 m (6 feet 4 inches) tall, 24 year old Gian Van Veen has played darts since the age of 8. He began climbing youth circuits from the age of 13 on and has seen an exceptionally fast rise to fame over the past two years after stepping away from work in 2024 to focus fully on the game. Prior to that, he completed a bachelor’s degree in aviation operations from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, and worked in logistics for a Global GSA Group subsidiary at Hoofddorp, close to Schiphol Airport. Described as calm, analytical and fearless, his character and darts in general offer many parallels to the world of air cargo.

“That we can support Gian together with our Virgin Atlantic Cargo partner, is particularly meaningful for us. And we are keen to see what the future holds, both for Gian, and, of course, for Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s ongoing European expansion. Our first year has resulted in a strong partnership, a broad network, and exciting growth ahead,” Sarah Scheibe adds. “We’re proud that TCE now represents Virgin Atlantic Cargo across 14 European countries and manages a fully integrated trucking network into the UK’s London Heathrow airport. May we chalk up many more successes together.”