Turkish Cargo has contracted Lödige Industries to handle air freight at the new Istanbul airport.

Lödige Industries, which to date has delivered more than 40 air cargo terminals worldwide, will supply a new fully automatic terminal with state-of-the-art technology. This terminal will enable the expanding cargo airline to shift its freight activities to the mega-hub.

When completed, the terminal will have a handling capacity of two million tons per year and a total area of 300,000 square meters.

The equipment of the new cargo terminal will include automated high-bay warehouses with 17,000 storage bins, 30 stacking cranes, 15 lifters and an integrated warehouse management system (Lödige Cargo Professional) with a direct interface to the customer and freight management systems.

Freight handling for perishable goods, excess luggage, express luggage, domestic freight and general cargo will take place on two levels. The cargo terminal will be maintained on site by a local Lödige Industries service team and will also be connected to the Lödige Customer Care Centre in Germany, which will be able to quickly remedy system errors 24/7.

Philippe De Backer, CEO of Lödige Industries said: “We are proud to have contributed to the creation of this flagship project and our selection by Turkish Cargo for this new mega-hub is a testament to our engineering and automation expertise as well as our rich experience in air cargo terminals.”

“The new state-of-the-art terminal will place us in an excellent position for future growth,” said Turhan Özen, Chief Cargo Officer at Turkish Cargo. “In Lödige Industries, we have selected a partner that has enriched the project with innovative solutions to our specific requirements. We have found them to be both flexible and cost-sensitive, which is always a bonus with such large scale projects.”