Turkish Cargo carries Covid-19 vaccines from China to Brazil

Continuing its contributions for the sustainability of the global supply chain by building a global air cargo bridge, Turkish Cargo started to carry Covid-19 vaccines with its strong fleet, wide flight network and special cargo service quality.

Turkish Cargo carried the Covid-19 vaccines, manufactured in China, to Brazil which is at a flight distance of approximately 17,000 kilometres. The vaccines, loaded inside seven containers equipped with dedicated cooling systems, were transported safely from Beijing to Sao Paulo, the biggest city of the South America, with a connection flight at Istanbul.

By carrying pharmaceuticals to the key and certificated destinations such as Mumbai, Brussels, Istanbul, Singapore, Dubai, Basel, London and Amsterdam, the cargo carrier created a global pharmaceutical corridor between more than 400 destinations, and maintains its commitment for transporting the vaccines that are ready or being developed.

Holding the IATA CEIV (Center of Excellence for Independent Validators) pharma certificate, Turkish Cargo, maintains the cold chain at the optimal conditions with the hep of the TK Pharma product which was designed to carry pharmaceuticals at global standards. Transporting pharmaceuticals all across the global in great numbers during the course of the pandemic, it carried more than 40 thousand tonnes of pharmaceuticals, medical products and medical equipment between January and September, and reported a growth over 50 per cent for the pharmaceutical shipments during the same period.

Turkish Cargo provided a capacity increase for the Covid-19 vaccine shipments
In order to satisfy the increased demand for transportation of the vaccines, pharmaceuticals and temperature-controlled cargo, Turkish Cargo commissioned the temperature-controlled smart warehouse with an additional area of 1200 square metres. Additionally, having increased its capacity for the cold chain shipments by 30 per cent by working with the largest suppliers of active containers in the industry, the cargo carrier enhanced its cold chain shipment scale to 25,000 tonnes per month thanks to the capacity to service additional 150 aircraft pallets on instantaneous basis.

Turkish Airlines chief cargo officer, Turhan Özen stated, ‘’We made significant contributions for the sustainability of the supply chain and enlarged our cold chain footprint all around the world thanks to the business processes we have been maintaining uninterruptedly during the course of the pandemic. For the purpose of maintaining the cross-continental cold chain, Turkish Cargo offers industrial solutions such as the dedicated temperature-controlled storehouses between the range of -20/25 degrees, pharmaceutical maintenance teams, active containers and thermal carriers. Thanks to our special cargo shipments, for which we hold all global qualifications and certifications, we are ready to transport the vaccines that are ready or being developed to all across the globe.”

SmartIST, the key transit air logistics center between Asia and Europe
The cargo carrier is getting ready to offer even higher standards for the pharmaceutical shipments with the certificated dedicated operation areas that will be available with SmartIST, its new mega facility located at the Istanbul Airport (IST) that covers an area of 340,000 square metres.

With an annual handling capacity of more than 4 million tonnes, SmartIST will be equipped with the receival, delivery and operation area dedicated for the special cargo, the temperature-controlled unit devices (ULDs), an operation area of 2100 square metres isolated from the other cargo and a web-based temperature and humidity monitoring systems.

Boasting the world’s widest direct cargo aircraft network, Turkish Cargo reaches over 300 destinations, 95 of which is direct cargo destinations, and offers its services 24/7 to its customers over its global network with its fleet of 365 aircrafts.