Now that the annual FIATA
gathering is history, VP of Cargo Sales & Marketing at Turkish Airlines
Halit Anlatan reviews the Istanbul event in terms of takeaway and the
message his team projected to an overflow event.
His opening sentiment certainly finds resonance
in every industry group or faction that considers these matters:
“The air cargo business needs to always
to work in partnership toward a more secure, transparent, and sustainable
business.”
“The FIATA group moved that though
process along by creating a very large, well-informed, and responsive
conference that included many of our service partners, who were also afforded
some up close and personal contact at our fast-growing Gateway Istanbul.
“We were delighted to meet and greet
and get to know many new and close colleagues at this stellar event.”
Growing Cargo
Business
“Turkish Cargo continues to grow by
leaps and bounds whilst finding a way to sustain that growth.
“Currently at Istanbul we are expanding
and enhancing capabilities as we prepare to debut an all-new cargo transfer
handling facility.
“Turkish Cargo in 2014 is showing
healthy and sustainable growth.
“Both projected total number of destinations
and TK’s fleet will be doubled, looking ahead.
“Put another way, belly capacity for
air cargo will double within 10 years as we grow our airline.
“Our aim to reach over one million
tons of air cargo throughput annually is within reach during the next
few years.”
|
|
Busy
Month . . . (left) Turkish Cargo hosted the
big FIATA Conference as Istanbul provided a busy backdrop for delegates
of partnering freight forwarders from around the world.
(Right) Turkish Cargo, represented by their Asia Pacific Regional
Office also joined “The World Mail and Express Conference &
Exhibition” October 14th-16th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. |
New Destinations
“Belgrade and Tunis freighter services
were launched in the first quarter of 2014.
“With the launch of Hyderabad freighter
service on Aug, 28, 2014, the Turkish Cargo freighter network reached
47 in total.
“Currently we have six A330-200F,
three A310-304F, and 256 airliners, 56 of which are wide bodies. Looking
ahead in 2015, we are planning to serve the market both with new cargo
capacities and new destinations.”
No Small
Potatoes
“Contributing to 10 percent of Turkish
Airlines’ income, Turkish Cargo is one of the fastest-growing air
cargo brands in the world, witnessing 20.5 percent tonnage growth in 2013.
“Turkish Cargo raised its cargo and
mail shipment volumes to 567,771 tons in 2013 from 469,036 tons in 2012.
“While cargo and mail shipment volume
was 407,071 tons in the 2013 Jan.-Sep. period, Turkish Cargo showed 20.6
percent increase in the same period of 2014, reaching 490,823 tons.
“We have seen quite an uptick in technological
devices, especially in newly introduced mobile phone consignments, as
the substantial shipments of recent years.
“When it comes to the markets that
continue to build and look promising, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan
are the rising stars of the year 2014.”
Ebola Watch
Asked about possible impact of Ebola on
some of Turkish Airways flights to Africa, Mr. Antlatan reports:
“Up to now, we have not seen any distinct
effect in our sales, although of course we take every precaution to both
keep abreast of developments and to also be pro-active in our efforts
at prevention and screenings.”
Keeping Turkish
Airways Great
“Our main competitive advantage is
our warm hospitality, which comes from our deep-rooted traditions, and
standing by our customers’ side as a trustable friend!
“Additionally, we own a fascinating
position and are eager to get a significant share of new and niche markets.”
About Turkish & E-AWB
“Turkish Cargo aims to provide high
quality, fast and secure cargo services to meet customer demands.
“The electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB)
has an important role to play in reaching these aims easily, because e-AWB
minimizes the archiving costs, improves data quality, eliminates delays
due to loss of AWB, minimizes the cycle time especially in the acceptance
process, and improves data visibility.
“AWB is the first and important step
just before implementation of e-freight and helps to realize the e-freight
vision.
“Turkish Cargo is currently working
on e-AWB with dozens of valuable forwarders; as you report this story,
that includes more than 50 percent of total cargo volume within Turkey.
“For now, e-AWB volumes of Turkish
Cargo (export from Turkey) are nearly 36 percent and will reach 47 percent
(Export from Turkey) by the end of 2014.
Bring On
COMIS
“Turkish Cargo has focused on COMIS
(new core application) Project, which will go live during the second half
of 2015.
“After the implementation of COMIS
Project, Turkish Cargo expects a large increase in the number of e-AWB
for all routes, or about more than 25 percent of total AWB volume (import
& export) system wide,” Mr. Anlatan said.
(Geoffrey)
|
