halit tuncer
Turkish Airlines will continue to grow aggressively
T
urkish Airlines had reportedly been moving thousands of tonnes of medical supply. Kindly elaborate on how you maintain efficient cargo operations amid the coronavirus outbreak? As coronavirus spread throughout the world, our most important agenda became supplying medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. There was a sudden imbalance in demand to supply ratio due to a shortage of capacity. Therefore, Turkish Airlines deployed more than 30 widebody passenger aircrafts on top of 24 freighters to meet the demand. Now we have more than 200 flights per week operated by cargo dedicated widebody passenger aircrafts.
As a result of the ongoing crisis, cargo has become an indispensable part of airlines and airports, globally. Halit Tuncer, Cargo Director South Asia, Turkish Airlines in an exclusive interview with Ritika Arora Bhola, talks extensively about the carrier's efficient operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, their risk management policies, and how they ensure compliance to the highest standards with seeking continuous improvement.
What kind of precautions the airline is taking to ensure hundred per cent safety and security of products as well as staff? We switched our staff to work from home and reduced the number of personnel in operations. Temperature checks are being done daily and PPEs are supplied to our ground staff. Hand sanitisers are already installed while office and warehouse areas are being disinfected regularly. Social distancing measures are being followed strictly within the facility as well as in-company staff transportation vehicles. We also have a medical team on duty 24x7 to ensure the well-being of our staff. Does Turkish Cargo follow an effective risk management policy in times like these? As this is a new global risk, we keep close coordination with local and global authorities daily to implement necessary steps on time. We maintained our operations intact by adapting to the guidelines.
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July 2020
