Turkish Cargo is looking to increase its freighter services to Shanghai and Guangzhou and in the first quarter saw growth of 30 per cent to China.

The carrier says China is a dynamic market and one of the biggest trade partners of Turkey. In 2016, export airfreight volume from Turkey increased around 25 per cent.

Turkish now serves Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou with daily Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft. On top of belly flights, it now operates six times a week freighters to Shanghai and four times a week freighters to Guangzhou using Airbus 330 Freighters.

Regional manager for the Far East, Huseyin Ceyhan (pictured below) says: “In order to boost this positive trend, Turkey has been investing heavily in infrastructure in recent years.

“One of the biggest projects, Istanbul New Airport, that is scheduled to be completed in 2018, will be the largest airport in Europe.

“In the first phase, Turkish Airlines would increase its cargo capacity by almost 40 per cent where we believe we will soon fully utilise thanks to our strategic advantage.”

Ceyhan says for Turkish Cargo’s global strategy, e-commerce has became an important business segment and there is major growth of e-commerce from China, which offers great opportunity to air cargo.

“Besides e-commerce shipments, pharmaceuticals is the other booming segment for Turkish Cargo. We received CEIV certification from IATA last year. In Turkish Airlines’ strategic hub, Istanbul, the new cargo terminal with special storage area can fullfill every special demand from customers,” he adds.

Ceyhan explains: “Turkish Cargo experienced a remarkable growth in freight volume of e-commerce shipments in 2016 compared to 2015.

“In order to cater the booming demand of parcel and express shipment, we plan to add new freighter frequency to the major cites in China – Shanghai and Guangzhou.”

China is key focus for Turkish moving forward. “China is the key manufacturing plant for many multinational companies and we also see some Chinese corporations start to invest in Turkey. In that regard, China is the globally logistics powerhouse also one of the greatest trade partners for Turkey,” says Ceyhan.

He adds: “China is the biggest exporting country within international trade and plays an important role in exports of high technology products or machinery worldwide. In parallel, with the growth of China’s middle and upper income group together with booming e-commerce demand, there is also a big drive on import services.”