BBN Türkiye In Talks To Secure Three More 777-300s For Conversion

Wet lease operator BBN Airlines Türkiye is anticipating its first Boeing 777-300 freighter conversion (777-300ERMF) from Texas-based Mammoth Freighters in the first quarter of 2026 and is finalizing three more 777 feedstock aircraft to fill its remaining conversion slots.

BBN Airlines Türkiye received its air operator certificate (AOC) in March 2023. Since launching with four passenger Airbus A321s, BBN Türkiye has grown to 300 staff and 12 aircraft, comprising seven passenger A321s, two passenger A320s and three A321 freighters.

“The main idea behind the Turkish project was stepping into widebody cargo operations,” BBN Türkiye CEO Fatih Bardakci told Aviation Week. “We stepped into narrowbodies as a start, because we were expecting some conversion delays. The original plan was to have those [cargo conversion 777] aircraft in March 2025.”

Lessor AviaAM, which is one of BBN Türkiye’s sister companies within Avia Solutions Group (ASG), has six 777-300 cargo conversion slots with Mammoth. The first conversion is expected to be completed imminently, followed by supplemental type certification (STC). Each subsequent aircraft will take around six months to complete.

“Mammoth will apply to the FAA with full documentation by Sept. 9. They expect to finalize [the STC] in October to November this year,” Bardakci said. “We will be the first airline, I hope, operating the [Mammoth Freighters] 777-300 cargo aircraft.”

Mammoth was founded in December 2020, specifically to design, develop and convert passenger-to-freighter aircraft. BBN Türkiye is anticipating arrival of its first two Mammoth-converted 777-300Fs in the first quarter of 2026 and already has two unnamed customers lined up.

“We are in talks for three additional [freighter conversion feedstock] aircraft with one party, and we will schedule these for conversion,” Bardakci said. These aircraft will be used to fill some of the remaining conversion slots.

Bardakci noted that each 777F will generate the same revenue as six or seven narrowbodies. “It’s a different scale,” he said. “We aim to have five [777Fs] over two years.”

Beyond the 777Fs, BBN Türkiye is also looking to expand its narrowbody fleet, but lease rates have nearly doubled over the past three years, narrowbodies are proving harder to source, and maintenance and crew costs have also risen. For 2026, Bardakci is hoping to add one or two narrowbodies, depending on market opportunities.

BBN Türkiye’s main strategic focus is the Turkish market. Seven of its aircraft are on year-long wet lease to Turkish Airlines’ LCC AJet, one is operating a seasonal contract for Antalya-based Freebird Airlines, and another is performing seasonal flights for SalamAir out of Muscat, Oman. Its three A321Fs are placed on an annual wet lease contract with Turkish Airlines Cargo. During the winter low season, BBN Airlines Türkiye will move some of its capacity to its sister AOC, BBN Airlines Indonesia.

Qatar Airways Cargo is another airline that has signed up to the Mammoth Freighters conversion program, with five 777-200 slots. The converted 777-200F has a maximum gross payload of 105 tons and a maximum range of 4,900 nm with that payload. The respective figures for the 777-300F conversion are 98 tons and 4,800 nm.

Several companies are undertaking, or have announced, plans to convert 777s.