Ensuring the continuation of international pharma supply chains while countries closed their doors to one another during the pandemic, Turkish Cargo had a significant success when it comes to vaccine transportation.
Being the fastest growing air cargo carrier in the world in 2021 when the negative effects of pandemic were ongoing, successful brand contributed to the return of good old days by carrying 335 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to 61 countries.
Able to carry vaccines, medicine and medical products in all of their specific temperature requirements, Turkish Cargo is one of the most preferred air cargo brands when it comes to transporting medical products with its fast and secure services. Carrying pharmaceutical products such as vaccines to 132 countries around the world with its TK Pharma service, flag carrier reached 8% market share in medical products category in 2021.
Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Dr Ahmet Bolat said they also played an important role to get the vaccines to Africa.
On their vaccine transportation operations, Dr Bolat stated that vaccines produced by heroic scientists and carriers who transported the vaccines to all corners of the world have a sizeable contribution as to why we can once again fly free of worry or hug our loved ones. By establishing a corridor between over 400 international destinations, they ensured that vaccines remained accessible to all.
Especially considering the low number of carriers flying to Africa, Turkish Cargo had an important mission to make sure people of this continent could have access to vaccines.
From Turkey to the world
Carrying COVID-19 vaccines to Turkiye, and from Turkiye to all over the world, Turkish Cargo carried most number of vaccines to Turkiye followed by Brazil, with 100 million doses in 2021. Amongst the countries with over 1 million doses delivered were African countries such as Mauritania, Madagascar, Rwanda, and Congo.
As for the manufacturer of the vaccines, first place was Coronovac with 200 million doses, followed by Biontech with 120 million doses, Astra Zeneca with 12 million doses, and Moderna with 4 million doses.
Global air cargo brand carries important medical packages with delicate temperature and time constraints such as medicine, vaccines, biotechnological products, diagnosis samples, sensitive medical devices, organs and tissues with IATA-CEIV Pharma Certificate quality standards.
Turkey’s SMARTIST facility as base for medicine and medical products
Turkiye is on its way to become a global centre for medical product transportation with Turkish Cargo’s new air cargo facility SMARTIST at Istanbul Airport. As one of the world’s foremost air cargo facilities that spans 340,000 square metres, it offers significant advantages for quickly and securely transporting medicine and medical products with its heat and temperature controlled area of 9,000 square metres.
Globalisation and increased demand for pharmaceutical industry due to COVID-19 pandemic also increases the demand for air cargo logistics. Turkish Cargo aims to carry Turkiye to become a medical centre for the world with its new investments and expert teams. With parking areas for cargo freighters around the facility, it is expected that the successful carrier will increase its service quality and market share with SMARTIST facility.
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