ISTANBUL, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) on Monday said that it increased the number of cargo flights to 215 per week in April in line with the measures taken to curb the fast spread of COVID-19.
The press office of the carrier told Xinhua that the suspension of its domestic passenger aircraft would contribute an additional 60 flights every week in the delivery of food and medical supply amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
"Wide-body passenger aircraft, especially Boeing 777 and Airbus 330, will be used as cargo flights," the official said, noting that all of them will be bound to Istanbul.
"With this strategy, an additional capacity of 5,000 tonnes is created, ensuring that the food and medicine chain would not be interrupted during these difficult times," he added.
Medicines and medical products are prioritized over other products during loading and unloading, said the flag carrier.
At a press release issued the previous day, the THY also emphasized that the sensible products are kept in ideal temperature conditions in special storage rooms in the cargo terminal in Istanbul.
After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on April 3 the country's new measures against the fast spread of the virus, the THY declared that it suspended all its domestic flights until April 20.
The carrier had halted all its international flights and reduced the frequency of its domestic flights to 14 major cities across the country at the end of March.
