According to the World Air Transport Statistics data, published annually by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Turkish Cargo, the cargo arm of Turkish Airlines, ranked 1st among the European cargo airline companies. Turkish Cargo also ranked 4th among global airlines.
According to the FTK (Freight Tonne Kilometers) data, the all-cargo freighter airline increased its business volume by more than 32 per cent showing a transportation performance of 9.2 million tonne kilometers in 2021, and reaching the top by outdistancing the leading air cargo brands in Europe.
Regarding the successful performance of Turkish Cargo, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Prof Dr Ahmet Bolat said, “As the fastest-growing air cargo brand in the world, we continue to add value to the air cargo industry with our contributions to the supply chain and maintain our critical role when it comes to increasing the global trade’s competition power. We are on the march towards our target to become one of the top 3 air cargo brands in the world in 2025 by carrying this success performed by Turkish Cargo in Europe to all corners of the world.”
With a growing fleet, best-in-class infrastructure, process and quality improvements, and systematic investments over the years, Turkish Cargo rose from 22th to 4th in global rankings and increased its market share to the level of 5.2 per cent from the 2.6 per cent in the last five years.
From a 13-cargo plane fleet in 2017, Turkish Cargo today operates 20 freighters, increasing the number by 53.8 per cent over the five-year span. In parallel with expansion of its fleet, the number of destinations operated by the airline nearly doubled, reaching 100 in 2022. Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines became the airline that operates flights to the highest number of international destinations for cargo just as it does for the passenger operations. Anchoring on the air bridges built by Turkish Cargo, exporters now establish commercial connections directly with approximately 85 per cent of the world, on GNP basis.
As the market share of Turkish Cargo increased by 8 per cent pertaining to medical cargo shipments, the carrier played a crucial role in the fight against the pandemic not only in Türkiye but across nationas on a global scale. Having delivered innovative solutions in the crisis environment, Turkish Cargo once again demonstrated that it is a reliable logistics brand with more than 6,500 pax-freighter flights it has operated in order to overcome the capacity bottleneck resulting from the disruption of passenger flights during the pandemic.
Furthermore, SMARTIST, the facility where Turkish Cargo relocated at the end of 2021 and now its primary hub for operations is the largest and top-of-the-class air cargo facility in Europe, in terms of its capacity, capability and technological infrastructure.
