Turkish Cargo sets sights on North America

Building for the future

While some political aspects of the future are uncertain for Turkish Cargo (see sidebar), the carrier has made a strong commitment to follow through on infrastructure improvements.

One year ago, Turkish Cargo opened its new cargo facility at the Istanbul Airport, with export rack capacity 250 percent larger than the original terminal. With 233,000 square feet of space airside, the new facility has an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes of cargo. There are also 141,000 square feet of closed warehouse space, and 39 separate special cargo rooms, that can maintain four different room temperatures for nine types of perishable cargo, including pharmaceuticals, live animals, dangerous goods, vulnerable goods, valuable cargo and radioactive cargo. Inbound-outbound ULD capacity has been increased by 5.5 times to accommodate 1,200 units. Outside, there is 36,000 square feet of space for vehicles to maneuver, and 56,000 square feet of airside available for ramp operations.

But even with these expansions, the new facility may not be enough. Turkish has set a goal to move 3 million tonnes of cargo annually by 2023, more than double the capacity of the latest terminal. And this growth is only expected to increase, mostly in the form of belly capacity in its passenger fleet. In addition to the seven A330 freighters it now operates, Turkish has three more on order, two of which will be delivered in 2016 and one in 2017. Overall, Turkish plans to grow its fleet from just under 300 aircraft now to more than 450 by 2023.

Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport is holding up its end of the bargain, too. It overtook Frankfurt to become one of the top three European hubs in 2015 as Turkish continues its rapid expansion. Ataturk Airport hosted approximately 61.32 million passengers last year, compared with 61.04 million in Frankfurt. But a new airport 20 miles north of Ataturk Istanbul is in the works, with a lofty goal of 150 million passenger capacity annually and also the ability to handle an astonishing six million tonnes of cargo. The new airport, which will replace Ataturk Airport, is forecast to be ready by 2018, with an initial 90 million passenger capacity and three runways. The capacity will be raised by 2023.

If any cargo carrier can be accused of giving the “Big 3” Gulf carriers a run for their money, it’s Turkish Cargo. So, the next time you’re in Gotham City or Metropolis and people on the street shout out, “Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane,” don’t be surprised if the aircraft in question features a Turkish Cargo logo.

See more about the political situation faced by Turkish

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