Turkish Cargo posts 15.6% tonnage growth in first quarter

Turkish Cargo carried a total of 363,297 tonnes of cargo and mail during the first quarter of 2019, a year-over-year growth of 15.6%, according to traffic results released last week by Turkish Airlines. In particular, sold tonnage increased by 29.1% in the American market and by 15.4% in the Asian market.

For the first three months of the year, Turkish Cargo’s international tonnage grew by 17.3%, year-over-year, while domestic cargo and mail declined by 13.0%. Cargo revenue also increased by 5.2%.

But the opposite was true in the month of April 2019, with international cargo and mail tonnage dropping by 24.9%, compared to a year ago, and domestic tonnage jumping by 172.0%, resulting in a total of 98,869 tonnes. This represented a y-o-y decrease of 12.9% and was the first year-over-year decline in monthly tonnage since 2011.

Turkish Cargo is currently running a dual-hub operation, with all belly operations having transitioned to the new Istanbul Airport in April and freighter flights continuing to operate from Ataturk Airport. The carrier expects to be capable of handling approximately 4 million tonnes of cargo per year, when all operations are consolidated at its yet-to-be-completed new cargo terminal.