Mahmut Yayla

Turkish Airlines has launched its SMARTIST operations center. How will this facility represent a new era in cargo traffic?

While the global air cargo sector contracted during the pandemic period, we continued to grow and expand at Turkish Cargo with the right strategy. We established our new mega cargo hub, SMARTIST, at Istanbul Airport, which started its operations in late 2021. This state-of the-art facility features revamped business processes, automated storage systems, and a fully integrated warehouse management system. SMARTIST, one of the world’s largest cargo facilities by capacity, is poised to become one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in terms of innovation and technological capabilities. In its new comprehensive strategic plan, Turkish Cargo aims to become one of the top three worldwide by 2025. SMARTIST facilitates the management of business processes in a faster, more efficient and traceable way via the work order optimization system in which all processes are integrated. As a result, it will remain one of the main factors in Turkish Cargo’s journey toward achieving its strategic goals with technology-oriented projects to be commissioned in 2022.

How has the presence of new technologies encouraged a faster and more efficient experience?

To ensure its competitiveness, Turkish Cargo prioritized integration with its revenue management system. In 2022, Turkish Cargo laid the groundwork for implementing best practices in the industry, meeting customer expectations at the highest level, and developing a machine learning-based system that aims to maximize cargo contribution. The system is being developed via a dual structure in which Turkish Cargo takes an active role in product development and design capitalizing on its sector experience, and Turkish Airlines Technology Inc. is a pioneering member. The new system will ensure that customer demands are met more quickly after this stage, as digital sales channels become more widespread in the sector. The profile and visibility of Turkish Cargo will increase on these platforms through more dynamic capacity and price management. Turkish Cargo, starting to work on integration with digital marketplaces, aims to boost penetration for its customers and business partners by having advantages over the competition with its innovative and competitive price policies, apart from traditional communication channels.

What steps are being taken to make sustainable aviation a reality?

We fly for a habitable world and future generations. As a global company, we focus on preserving natural resources for future generations. Since 2008, we have developed and continue to implement more than 100 operational optimization initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint. Thanks to the fuel saving efforts we successfully implement every year, we once again prevented hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon emissions in 2021. In addition to these efforts, we have started using aircraft fuel obtained from sustainable sources and we aim to expand this use even more. We count with 116,809 tons of prevented CO2 emissions.

What are the airline’s main aspirations for 2023?

Despite the uncertain picture created by the pandemic, the aviation industry remains a major driver of globalization. Air travel is the fastest and safest method of transportation in the world today and will be so in the future. At Turkish Airlines, we aim to further develop our products and services and enhance our innovation efforts, now an integral part of our corporate culture. Every day, we are readying ourselves for the intense competition expected in the aviation sector in the coming years. The Turkish Airlines family is prepared for the zenith of the global aviation industry with our employees—our most valuable asset. Backed by our 89-year history and the unshakable support our nation has given to our brand, Turkish Airlines is moving forward into a bright future together with its passengers.