MNG Airlines, which holds a significant share of the air cargo industry in Turkey, is looking to use its experience to expand its services and flight network. After having converted Turkey’s first passenger-to-freighter (P2F) aircraft last year, MNG Airlines has completed the conversion of its second aircraft and TC-MCN is ready to take the skies again with a much higher structural and volumetric payload capacity.
MNG Airlines, which was established 25 years ago, holds a significant share of the air cargo industry in Turkey. In addition to its scheduled flight network, MNG Airlines makes a valuable contribution to the air cargo industry by offering customized services that include flight, cargo, ground handling and warehousing services. Now, MNG Airlines aims to make Turkey stand out in the air cargo market with its fleet of 9 wide body aircraft.
With vision of continuous improvement, MNG Airlines was the first Turkish company to invest in the acquisition and convertion of the A330 aircraft into freighters in December 2020. Turkey’s first converted A330-300P2F left Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) facility in November, 2021 and joined the MNG Airlines’ fleet as TC-MCM. Since then, it has completed nearly 3000 flight hours and carried over 12000 tons of cargo in the last 9 months to maintain a sustainable network between China-Türkiye and Europe. The second A330-300, TC-MCN was sent to EFW for the same P2F conversion process. The passenger-to-freighter conversion took 7 months from February to September 2022. TC-MCN is already scheduled to begin commercial operations in mid September.
Airline will complement the fleet with A321P2F aircraft
Ali Sedat Özkazanç, General Manager of MNG Airlines, said, “I am delighted to receive our second A330-300 aircraft from EFW’s facilities. As MNG Airlines, we are increasing our cargo capacity with a focus on customer satisfaction and flight safety. The fact that we are the first company in Turkey to invest in the conversion project makes us proud and motivates us to reach higher goals and work even harder. With TC-MCN we will serve a wide range of customers and routes, both scheduled and charter. I am confident that the collaboration between MNG Airlines and EFW will continue to add value to both companies. We are currently developing transformation plans for 2024 and beyond. These include expanding our flight network and increasing cargo capacity with two additional A330-300P2Fs for which we have already secured slots with EFW. Market demand and trends for short distance as well as the opportunity for highest fuel efficiency and lower cost per tones have led us to the decision to complement our fleet with A321P2F in 2023 and 2024.”
About MNG Airlines:
MNG Airlines began operations in 1996 as the only private Turkish company offering international cargo flights to and from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Depending on customers’ needs, MNG Airlines is able to carry both express and general cargo. After 25 years, MNG Airlines occupies a leading and respected position in the industry with a growing fleet and a “customized services” approach focused on quality, trust and unconditional customer satisfaction. MNG Airlines is listed as one of the best A300/A310 operators in the world.
MNG Airlines makes a valuable contribution to the air cargo industry with its customized flight, handling and warehousing services. The company has received an Operational Excellence Award from Airbus six times in the last 15 years for its A300/A300-600 freighter fleet. MNG Airlines currently continues operations with a fleet of 6 Airbus A300-600 and 3 Airbus A330 aircraft.
About EFW:
Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), a subsidiary of ST Engineering and Airbus combines various aviation and technology activities under a single roof: development and manufacturing of fibre-reinforced composite components for aircraft structures and interiors of the entire Airbus family, the conversion of passenger aircraft into freighter configuration, maintenance and repair of Airbus aircraft as well as engineering services in the context of certification and approval. The company has a workforce of more than 1,900 employees, achieved revenues of approximately €250 million in 2020 and is on a sustainable course of growth. With over 20 years of experience and more than 40 conversion customers worldwide, thereof the largest Express carriers in North America and Europe but also renowned General Freight and Combination Carriers, EFW is the Centre of Excellence for freighter conversions and driving the development of the Airbus freighter family. For more information about EFW, please visit http://www.efw.aero.
