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Putting on a great show
Iata’s World Cargo Symposium, first scheduled for Istanbul in March 2020, has again been postponed (to October this year). Turkish Cargo has filled the gap by introducing a new event format. On 10 February it addressed today’s hot topics in its ‘Cargo Talk’.
Turhan Özen made the most of today’s virtual opportunities.
Turkish Cargo’s latest digital conference, with its “cool 3D stage and interactive on-air events”, as presenter Sam Chui, aviation and travel blogger, said, included an interactive game and a quiz. The first required participants to collect syringes whilst negotiating a course littered with obstacles; in the latter, participants could win business class tickets. This was the glittering framework for Turkish Cargo’s ‘Cargo Talk’ – which naturally also offered high-level discussions. (Scan the p+ above with the ITJ app to watch the video.)
Mehmet Ilker Aycı, the chairman of the board and of the executive committee of Turkish Airlines, got the ball rolling with a talk on the forthcoming integration of Turkish Cargo into a new legal freight entity, wholly owned by Turkish Airlines (see also page 7 of ITJ 49-52 / 2020). Turhan Özen, the airline’s chief cargo officer, then introduced his audience to the huge dimensions of the carrier’s new airfreight terminal. ‘Smartist’ – the world’s largest industrial building – is due to be opened in spring. It covers 340,000 m2 and can handle 4 million t of freight a year.
2020, Özen added, showed us the key importance of flexibility and agility. In March the first of Turkish Cargo’s 2,900 preighter flights took off. The airline continues to operate the most extensive network worldwide, including 96 full-freighter destinations.
The near and distant future
The event welcomed industry experts from every corner of the globe; they also gave their take on strategies for digitalisation, and the extent to which Turkish Cargo has made further advances in the field. Another discussion, addressing “The future of airfreight” looked far beyond Covid-19 to the years 2030 – 2050. Seabury managing director Marco Bloemen said he’s convinced this crisis will have a long-term effect. Ceva’s chief airfreight operating officer, Peter Penseel, doesn’t believe the aviation industry’s lost passengers will come flooding back. New answers will have to be found.
This was a good virtual event, all in all – but we’re looking forward to meeting up in person again in Istanbul on 12 – 14 October, for the twice-postponed World Cargo Symposium.