The rapidly expanding cargo division of Turkish Airlines has added a tenth destination in Africa to its maindeck network. On May 18, the carrier began regularly scheduled freighter service to Dakar, Senegal, using an A330F.
The route goes from Istanbul to Dakar and then on to Los Angeles, and then returning to Turkey, the company said. Dakar now represents Turkish Cargo’s 43rd destination in Africa. Turkish Cargo now serves 268 destinations, including 51 freighter routes, in 109 countries, via its fleet of 10 freighters, as well as the belly capacities of its 264 passenger aircraft. Earlier this year, Turkish announced the firm order of four new A330-200 freighters, to be delivered through January 2017.
Although Turkish Cargo reported a decline in quarterly revenues for its first quarter, from US$229 million in 2014 to $224 million for Q1 2015, the parent company, Turkish Airlines reported net income of $153 million, compared with a $102 million loss in the previous year’s firsrt quarter. The reason the airline gave for its return to profitability was “active risk management strategies and a balanced debt composition.”