Turkish Airlines Chairman Talks Fleet Strategy

Turkish Airlines is presently evaluating where it will source the aircraft required to meet its goal of operating a fleet of 800 by 2033, which will be Türkiye's 100th anniversary as a nation.

“Soon we [will] know if we continue with Boeing or with Airbus. We are very close. There is a gap for the current deal,” Turkish Airlines chairman Ahmet Bolat told ATW at the recent IATA AGM in New Delhi. “We gave them a guidance. When Turkish Airlines said first we want to order 600 aircraft, all the Gulf airlines had been shocked.”

For the current deal, the Istanbul-based Star Alliance is looking to order 225 aircraft, a split between 75 widebodies and 150 narrowbodies. The airline previously placed an order for 220 Airbus aircraft, finalized in December 2023, comprised of 150 A321neos and 70 A350s.

For a possible Boeing order, Bolat says delivery slots will play an important role, alongside prices, CASM and maintenance costs of the aircrafts’ engines. “If we don’t really get the deal from Boeing, then we go to Airbus,” Bolat said.

Turkish Airlines currently has more than 280 aircraft on order, with deliveries scheduled to be completed over the next seven to eight years. In addition, the airline holds purchase rights for 125 more aircraft.

Talking about specific aircraft types, Bolat says that he does not see the Airbus A321XLR as ideal. “We don’t have a range (need) for the A321XLR. Our destinations in Europe are within four to five hours’ flying time; North Africa is six hours. We don’t need this aircraft, thanks to our geographical advantage.”

Turkish is also evaluating a possible regional aircraft order for about 20-30 aircraft and is considering the Embraer E2 or Airbus A220.

“With our business model, bringing more people to our cultural tourism destinations, these nearby location airports are so important,” Bolat said, adding that, for this type of passenger, a business class offering is desired. “But business class onboard those regional jets [can] become not economically as much as you wanted. That’s a very crucial decision.” Asking if Turkish Airlines itself would be interested in ordering A330neos, Bolat says that the carrier operates the Boeing 787s in this segment.

Turkish Airlines also continues to be affected by the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G GTF engine issues on its Airbus A320neos, though the ratio of grounded aircraft has improved as more spare engines have become available. “I expect that issue will be solved in three to four years completely,” Bolat said. Around 30 A320neo aircraft will remain grounded by the end of 2025, a noticeable drop from a previous peak of 45 grounded aircraft.

As of May 31, Turkish Airlines operates 484 aircraft—134 widebody aircraft, 324 narrowbodies and 26 freighters—of which 175 are new-generation aircraft, representing approximately 36% of its total fleet. “With our own fleet we can reach around 353 destinations. But with our 58 codeshare partners, we can add on top of these 205 more cities,” Bolat said.