Turkish Cargo is braced for moving its belly cargo operations after confirming it will leave Istanbul Atatürk Airport on 31 December 2018 and move into its new base at Istanbul New Airport (INA).
The new $11 billion INA will start operations on Monday, 29 October with Turkish Airlines set to operate the first flight.
Turkish Cargo said after 31 December, all belly hold cargo will be flown from INA but freighter services will continue to be operated from Istanbul Atatürk Airport.
The carrier said: “Our new hub in Istanbul, the logistics center of the world, with the completion of the new airport will allow us to serve our clients even better than previously with its 165,000 m² usage area.”
Turkish Cargo said it will have a terminal with a capacity of two million tonnes per year upon completion of the first phase of construction at INA, and four million tonnes per year after the second phase is completed.
Turkish Cargo continued: “We are designing higher quality and more efficient processes with diversified special cargo areas allowing for different services for product groups.
“Our Mega Hub will be the air cargo terminal to integrate artificial intelligence into the operational process once the PCHS and ASRS systems are fully installed.
“With investments and our ever-growing fleet, we’re taking confident steps towards our goal of becoming one of the top 5 brands in the air cargo industry.”
Parent company Turkish Airlines will make the first commercial belly flight and the first overseas flights will be made to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Azerbaijan.
Once finished, INA will have six runways spread over 7,594 hectares, and it will feature a 1.4 million square metre Cargo City with a capacity of 5.5 million tonnes of capacity.
