At the Crossroads: Turkey’s key role in 21st century logistics

Turkish metal

Turkish Airline’s pivot to freight is already changing its operations on the ground. The growing importance of freighters is one area where Turkish Airlines is bucking industry trends, and the results are playing out in their latest numbers. Turkish Cargo’s volumes increased by 26.1 percent year-over-year during the first half of 2017. “When I joined at the end of last year, freighter-to-belly ratio was 30/70,” Özen explained. “Now it is 35/65. In order to optimize our network and utilize our belly cargo capabilities to maximum, we are going to grow freighter capacity to more than a 40/60 ratio.”

Shaving thousands of kilometers off routes isn’t the only factor working in Turkish Cargo’s favor. Özen points to a cultural distinction that he believes will help the carrier meet its goals for 2023. Turkey is a geographical and a cultural bridge between east and west, he explained. “Turkish professionals are quick to adapt to both eastern and western professional culture and business practices.” For Özen, the typical Turkish executive is comfortable doing business in both hemispheres.

But, he added, “It’s not just our geographical advantage, and cultural and historical values.” Unlike some of its resource-rich neighbors to the southeast, Turkey is not as endowed with natural resources. “The Turkish economy is built on the hard work of Turkish citizens and entrepreneurs. Turkish professionals are very hardworking with a multicultural business understanding. Turkish Cargo as a Turkish company is full of committed and hardworking employees who work with a team spirit.” He noted that the same applied to local nationals working at Turkish Airlines outposts.

Özen also calls special cargo “the most important priority in our strategy.” He is leading a push to expand in several special cargo products and solutions – mainly in pharma, e-commerce, express and mail, valuables and perishables. As a result, special cargo volumes have grown at a y-o-y rate of 35 to 40 percent this year. Special cargo currently accounts for 23 percent of the company’s revenue, but Özen hopes to increase that to 40 percent.

Ultimately, nothing’s going to happen until the freight forwarding community is on board, and Turkish Cargo is making sure that forwarders are aware of the changes at hand. “In the first eight months of my tenure at Turkish Cargo, I have met with most of the senior executives of our top 20 global forwarders,” Özen said.

Forwarders are responding. Özen’s pitch as a reliable carrier partner offers an alternative to airlines based out of Moscow or Gulf airports. Forwarding is all about having multiple options on the table, and choosing the best one. “Their [Turkish Cargo] attention to the demands of our clients empowers our working performance, and makes us a strong partner for our customers,” said DSV’s Onder. She noted that DSV’s import and export volume with Turkish Cargo had both increased substantially in recent years. “Turkish Cargo’s problem-solving capacity is very impressive,” she added. “They are able to solve any potential problem at a fast pace.”