DHL joins Turkish’s plan to strengthen Istanbul as cargo hub

DHL Global Forwarding and Turkish Cargo signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the purpose of reinforcing the bilateral relationship at the IATA World Cargo Symposium which started on April 25 in Istanbul.

“The cooperation between the two global air cargo providers will not only further improve each other’s operational efficiency, but also enhance Istanbul’s potential to become a leading logistics hub for the world,” reads the release.

Based on the MoU DHL Global Forwarding will leverage SMARTIST, the mega cargo facility of Turkish Cargo at Istanbul Airport, as one of its global hubs. This will increase the air cargo traffic handled via Istanbul significantly. The combination of Turkish Cargo’s intercontinental air cargo network with Türkiye’s unique geographical advantages enables Turkish Cargo to support DHL Global Forwarding global hub concept with its vast specialized knowledge and advanced operational capabilities at Istanbul Airport.

“Spanning the European and Asian continents, Türkiye is geographically well-positioned to act as a logistics hub for Europe, Asia as well as the MEA region and the US. We are happy to intensify our long-lasting partnership with Turkish Cargo, which not only provides us with reliable air cargo capacity but also state-of-the-art logistics infrastructure for handling air freight,” states Thomas Mack, Global Head of Air Freight, DHL Global Forwarding.

Commenting on such cooperation, Turkish Airlines Chief Cargo Officer, Turhan Özen said; “Integration of SMARTIST, our mega cargo hub, with the global network of DHL Global Forwarding, will enhance our service quality and strengthen the hub position of Istanbul further. This cooperation will also enable us to offer more effective, productive and uninterrupted air cargo service to our customers and add value to the industry upon the establishment of a powerful partnership and between Turkish Cargo and DHL. We hereby wish that this MoU, which stands out as a great source of pride and excitement to us, be beneficial to both parties thereto.”

Turkish Cargo and DHL will continue to explore new areas for partnership and deepen their cooperation further in future.