Freight Turkish Cargo, ZTO and PAL Air sign partnership agreement

During a ceremony held in Istanbul, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Mr. M. İlker Aycı, ZTO Express Chairman Mr. Mei Song LAI and PAL Air Ltd. Vice-Chairman Ms. Vivian Lau signed the contract.

The parties aim to establish a joint venture company which will be operating as a global/express and courier company focussing on the E-Commerce market. The services will be based in Hong Kong and will include all door to door activities like trucking, distribution, warehousing, freight transportation or final mile delivery.

E-commerce company Alibaba is also said to be involved in the joint venture, as the company is being expected to close on a 10% ($1.38bn) purchase of ZTO Express by June´s end.

Mr. M. İlker Aycı, Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee at Turkish Airlines said: "The Joint Venture, after reaching quickly to fully functional and operational levels, is expected to take place within the world’s largest integrators. In 5 years’ time it will generate over 2 billion USD of revenue. The growth is expected to continue gradually parallel to the e-commerce demand. The Istanbul New Airport will be opened by 29th of October this year and it will function as Turkish Airlines main operating hub. This mega hub, will gradually provide Turkish Cargo up to 4 million tons of cargo handling capacity, becoming one of the top 5 air cargo brands of the world. The flow of e-commerce products globally with this Joint Venture and via Istanbul Mega Hub; will provide maximum value to our customers worldwide.”

ZTO Express Chairman Mr. Mei Song Lai added, that all three companies will combine its core competencies and resources to create positive progress in warehousing, aviation route development, cargo freight and global express delivery in general.

“ZTO will continue to solidify and strengthen its competitive advantage for domestic growth, and will actively explore and expand international markets, building cross-border business as an important growth engine for the future," Lai stated.

Pal Air Ltd. Vice-Chairman Ms. Vivian Lau commented: “We are in one of the most exciting times of the human history. The IoT, robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, VR/AR/MR will unleash unprecedented opportunities and challenges [...] All these will provide further fuel to the already explosive e-commerce development [...] PAL is honoured to have played a role in creating a three parties venture that will unleash the best of three worlds, together with two global giants, Turkish Airlines and ZTO. Turkish Airlines, ZTO, and PAL looks forward to the creation of a world class integrator.”

Turkish Cargo is the freight subsidiary of Turkey´s flag carrier airline Turkish Airlines. Its fleet consists of nine Airbus A330-200F and two Boeing 777F cargo aircraft. In 2017, Turkish Airlines employed over 30,000 people while having a revenue of US$ 10.958 billion.

ZTO is the world’s largest parcel distributer and has a wide express delivery in China. The company employs 200,000 people and runs more than 27,000 service outlets. In 2016, ZTO registered a revenue of 1.45 Billion USD.

PAL Air Ltd. a member of Pacific Air Holdings Limited, which is engaged in Airlines General Sales and Services Agent (GSSA), Neutral Wholesales (cargo and express), as well as in Project Consulting Services. The company has its headquarters in Hong Kong and is supporting the growth of e-commerce in China.