Turkish Airlines to Order 600 Planes!

Reuters informs that during Thursday’s presentation of the new on-board menu, Prof. Dr. Ahmed Bolat, President of the Board of Management of Turkish Airlines, announced that in June the airlines he manages will order a total of 600 new planes. Such an order, if confirmed, would be the largest in industry history for a single airline, Eclipse Air India’s record order. India’s national carrier in December ordered from Airbus and Boeing a total of 470 aircraft.

Speaking several weeks before Istanbul, as part of the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which hosts the leaders of the world’s aviation industry, Bolat said the order will consist of 400 small capacity aircraft and 200 of the width of the plane. In 2033, the Turkish flag fleet will include more than 810 machines.
200 new wide-bodied and 400 narrow-bodied ships

“For the past 20 years, Turkish Airlines has grown by an average of 12% annually. In the next decade, we aim to record an annual growth of 7.6%. In 2033, we want to have 813 aircraft,” Bolat pointed out. “At the IATA meeting, we will announce all this with one of the major manufacturers. We are almost finished talking to them. So we will order about 600 aircraft, of which about 200 will be wide-body and 400 will be narrow-body,” added the CEO of Turkish Airlines. The annual IATA meeting, which brings together 280 airlines, will be held in Istanbul from June 4-6. The chairman of the board of management of Turkish airlines also noted that the increase in the size of the fleet will enable the organization to reach its goal of carrying 170 million passengers per year in 10 years.

Although Bolat did not want to reveal too many details about the types of aircraft selected or the aircraft manufacturer, he suggested that the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing, would be involved in the deal. – We are very close to one company and we don’t want to delay it. They are also approaching [paryskie, od red.] air show and then we can announce the news about the second company,” Ahmet Bolat said.

Childhood diseases exclude A350XBW and B777X

Currently, Turkish Airlines fleet is mixed. Airlines have narrow and wide-body aircraft of French and American manufacturers. When it comes to new aircraft technology in the Turkish airline group, the carrier is a user of the A320neo and B737 MAX families. Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 787-9 are responsible for long-haul flights. Turkish Airlines also operates A330 and aging Boeing 777-300ERs.

With the large number of aircraft needed to meet its 10-year plan to double its operations, the Republic of Turkey’s main airline can successfully maintain a mixed fleet, complementing its existing fleet with new Dreamliners as well as wide-body Airbuses. In terms of single-aisle aircraft, an order for the A321LR/A321ULR or the next generation of the world’s most popular single-aisle aircraft, the B737 MAX, is an option.

Turkish Airlines wants to fly from Istanbul directly to Australia (Melbourne and Sydney), but currently the airline does not have enough planes to cover such long routes. The ships mean that operations in Turkey and Australia will have to be done with a stop at one of the Asian airports for the plane to be refueled. This is what British Airways does in Singapore and Qantas in the case of flights from the east coast of Australia to London.

Bolat rejected an order for Boeing 777Xs and Airbus A350-1000ULRs. “A350XWB or 777X, model -8, is the right aircraft for our purposes. [oferowania lotów do Australii, od red.]. But, as you know, they won’t be available… We don’t want to be the first customer, we don’t want to risk it. This is something we have benefited from over the past 20 years – avoiding aircraft suffering from infancy,” Turkish Airlines CEO said.

Needless to say, Bolat has completely ruled out the B777X as a potential aircraft to serve Australian routes, given that it is not yet available and will not be considered “mature” for some time. Apparently, at least for Australia, the airline is seriously considering purchasing the A350-1000ULR. This is the same aircraft that Qantas has chosen to fly under the “rising sun” project. For the A350-1000ULR to cover such long distances, Airbus must first adjust the flight range and obtain the necessary certification.