Turkish Cargo flies 1.5M live fish to Oman

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Cargo, a division of Turkey’s national flag-carrier Turkish Airlines, carried 100 tons of live sea bream -- about 1.5 million -- to Oman from Turkey’s Aegean province of Izmir late Monday.

According to a statement from Turkish Cargo, the sea breams, raised in a fish farm by Kilic holding, a Turkish aquaculture company, were carried in water tanks.

An aquaculture engineer accompanied the freight and hourly checked the tanks to maintain an optimum pH balance and oxygen and temperature levels for the fish.

Turhan Ozen, the chief cargo officer of Turkish Cargo, said the operation was completed in 24 hours, the three-hour flight included.

"As Turkish Cargo, we always stand by Turkish exporters," Ozen said.

Last November, Turkish Airlines signed a declaration pledging zero tolerance on illegal wildlife trade.

Turkish Cargo currently has air freight services to 121 countries. The company complies with the IATA Live Animal Regulations in every phase of its shipping operations.