A French automotive supplier contacted Air Time Critical® to organise an urgent shipment to a car manufacturing plant based in Kocaeli, Turkey. The challenge consisted in delivering goods by the Sunday latest. But is that possible in Turkey at the weekend?
Frequent flights from France to Turkey
Paris CDG airport offers direct flights to Istanbul (IST) and Sabiha Gokcen (SAW) airports. Air France (AF) and Turkish Airlines (TK) run frequent commercial flights (up to 7 a day) and can take freight in the hold.
Air freight advice
It is helpful to know that A320-A321 aircrafts cannot take pallets higher than 120 cm in the hold. Sabiha Gokcen is the recommended airport for urgent deliveries to Kocaeli, being a mere 35-minute drive away as opposed to 2/3 hours for Istanbul airport.
Are customs open at the weekend in Turkey?
If you are going to organise an urgent weekend shipment, you need to know whether Turkish customs are open Saturdays or Sundays. A shipment sent as general cargo, consolidated express or on an air charter will most likely not be dealt with until customs reopen on Monday morning. By contrast, a shipment sent as Must Go (premium freight) on a non-consolidated AWB can benefit from a special procedure to clear customs over the weekend, once the flight reaches Turkey.
Requesting on-call weekend customs in Turkey
Air Time Critical® can implement a special procedure for urgent air freight in order to clear customs and pick up the goods over the weekend, once the flight has landed in Turkey. It is important to pre-empt this procedure with the Turkish consignee by submitting an on-call request to the destination airport’s customs office, in Istanbul or Sabiha Gokcen. The Turkish consignee’s broker needs to submit the request and pay the surcharge at the customs office during office hours. It is imperative that the request be initiated before the cargo is delivered to the airline at Paris CDG and before the flight leaves France.
Essential paperwork for urgent air freight
The following documents need to be provided for urgent shipments:
- details of the goods
- packaging
- goods description
- HS code (if known)
- commercial value
- pickup address
- consignee’s opening hours
- contact person
- contact details of the consignee’s customs office
- contact details of their customs broker
- copy of the documents
How can Air Time Critical® help with your urgent shipments to Turkey?
Air Time Critical® handles the pre- and post-carriage by express taxi of all your urgent shipments from the industrial areas to the airport.
We also coordinate customs operations with your consignee in Turkey, in collaboration with their broker. We offer a turnkey, door-to-door transport service and keep you informed at each key stage, all the way to delivery confirmation.
Next time you need to organise an urgent shipment of parcels or pallets to Turkey, don’t hesitate to approach our team or send us a quick quote request.
On the same topic:
- Checklist of important documents for air freight to Turkey
- Consolidated express air freight vs. premium freight – What’s the difference?