Before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Turkish Airlines had ambitious plans: by 2023, the air freight brand Turkish Cargo was to move from seventh to fifth place in the carrier ranking for internationally transported freight weight. However, the coronavirus crisis has caused the growth plans to falter, as the cargo division only owns 25 full freighters. The rest is covered by belly capacities, which had to remain on the ground due to the standstill in passenger traffic.

"Our team quickly developed flexible and efficient solutions to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. For example, we were in close contact with the health organizations to maintain the important air freight connections," explained Turhan Özen.

Passenger aircraft converted
Turkish Airlines was one of the first airlines to convert its passenger aircraft into cargo planes, so-called belly planes. Between March and May 2020, the airline operated more than 1,000 flights with 40 converted passenger aircraft to ensure the supply of medicines or medical protective equipment and to compensate for the loss of belly capacity.

"As Turkish Cargo, we have helped to maintain the global air bridge during the pandemic. This year, we transported more than 20,000 tons of medicines and medical supplies between February 1 and May 31. As Turkish Cargo, we achieved an 11% increase in our freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), according to IATA results from April 20, and are now ranked 6th among the top 25 airlines. While the international air cargo industry shrank by 15.5 percent, we increased our global FTK market share to 4.5 percent," explained Özen.

Freight fleet: one to three new freighters per year
Turhan Özen also emphasized at the ACD meeting that the airline would continue to focus on special cargo such as pharmaceuticals or perishable goods in the future. In April last year, the airline was the first airline to receive all three IATA CEIV certifications for pharmaceuticals, fresh meat and live animals at the same time. Looking to the future, Turhan Özen said that the passenger fleet would shrink by ten percent or more due to the decline in tourist traffic, meaning that the capacity bottlenecks in the belly area would also continue. However, the freighter fleet will not be affected by these plans. According to the Head of Cargo, the fleet will even grow by one to three freighters per year, depending on market developments.