One of the largest automobile manufacturers contacted us on a Friday night. Their production line in the Czech Republic was down and required immediate repair to prevent significant delays. The plan was to transport spare parts from one of their other locations in France or Turkey.

Logistics emergency at 9 p.m. – What response should we provide?

The client reached out to us at 21:00 on Friday. It was not only too late to reach their standard forwarders but also too urgent. This situation called for an emergency transport specialist – Air Time Critical®.

There were two possible pickup locations for this small 1 kg package. One in northern France, the other near Istanbul, Turkey. Each required tailored options to secure the fastest transit time possible. For the French location, we offered an Air Charter from the nearest airport in Ostend, Belgium. A plane there was ready to depart within 3 hours for early morning delivery. From Turkey, we could offer an On Board Courier departing on the first-morning flight from Istanbul directly to Prague, Czech Republic.

The final decision to fly from Turkey was made after midnight at 01:20.

The client, with his colleagues and management, needed several hours to secure the specific part at one of the locations. The final decision to fly from Turkey was made after midnight at 01:20. Even though it was already 02:20 local time in Turkey, we could still immediately book our courier and his flight. The scheduled departure was already at 06:45. To make this transport happen, the shipper sent a car with the package to meet our courier at the airport.

Details of the On Board Courier solution

• Type of flight: On Board Courier (hand carry service)
• Service: Door-to-door delivery Turkey – Czech Republic
• Commodity: small 1 kg package
• Flight route: IST – PRG

See below the whole itinerary of this urgent night transport

Friday

• 21:00: First call with the client. We immediately start preparing solutions to pick up a shipment in France and Turkey. We offer an Air Charter from France and hand-carry from Turkey. The client keeps working with his colleagues and management to secure the part availability.

Saturday

• 01:20 / 02:20 in Turkey: The client makes a final decision and confirms the transport from Turkey. As we kept in touch with the available courier, we could still book him and his flight. In the meantime, the shipper sends a car with the urgent part directly to the airport.
• 03:00 / 04:00: Shipment is received by our courier at Istanbul airport (IST)
• 06:45: Flight departure from IST airport
• 08:25: Flight arrival in Prague, Czech Republic (PRG)
• 09:00: Courier with shipment outside of PRG airport
• 09:15: Urgent part handed over to our driver for delivery
• 10:40: Delivery confirmed by client – mission accomplished

N.B: The times indicated correspond to local times

Mission accomplished: Delivering beyond expectations

The Saturday morning delivery exceeded all expectations, arriving well before the client’s deadline. This early arrival allowed the client to utilize the entire weekend to repair the production line and ensure a full-scale restart on Monday morning. The timely delivery prevented any production losses or workforce downtime⁠—demonstrating the effectiveness of Air Time Critical®’s service in urgent situations.

The early arrival allowed the client to ensure a full-scale restart on Monday morning.

Why was Air Time Critical® the perfect fit for this challenge?

• Offering multiple options: ATC® can prepare options for various locations and packaging in advance. Once the decision is made, we immediately proceed with booking the flights.
• 24/7 operations: We are ready to support you even on Friday evenings and weekends.
• Detailed tracking and coordination with everyone involved: You receive a tailor-made solution with regular updates after every step. In this case, the shipper offered to organize delivery to the airport. The client only forwarded us the driver’s contact information, and we coordinated the meeting with our courier. After arrival at PRG airport, the shipment was again smoothly handed over to our driver, who made the final delivery.

Do you need the fastest delivery from Turkey?

Do not hesitate to contact the Air Time Critical® team any time you have a critical shipment to or from Turkey. We can offer various options that are most suitable for your deadline and type of shipment.
Our services are available for shipments between Europe (France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany…) and Turkey, Asia, USA, Mexico, Morocco, and Tunisia.

You can get a solution for your specific route and volume at any time. Use the online form or call EN/FR: +32 2 888 84 16.