Turkish Airlines is in talks with Boeing Co. for the potential purchase of about 250 jetliners, months after locking down a major deal with European planemaker Airbus SE.
The airline’s Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee,
Ahmet Bolat, told reporters in Dubai on Tuesday.
Bolat said on the sidelines of the International Air Travel
Association’s (IATA) Annual General Meeting that the airline is discussing
target prices, commercial terms, and the cost of engines for 150 MAX
narrow-bodies and 75 Boeing 787 wide-bodies, Gulf News reports.
The 80th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air
Transport Summit are the airline industry’s most authoritative events.
It started on June 2 and ends today at the JW Marriott
Marquis Hotel in Dubai, UAE.
The announcement from Turkish Airlines comes on the back of
a major deal with European plane maker Airbus.
Bolat said, “We finished with Airbus. We have ordered 385
aircraft; some are fixed, and some are options. So, with Airbus, should we
exercise our options or not? That is the question, but it will happen after
three to four years,” he said.
Airbus-Boeing
Bolat said the airline, which has a fleet of 455 aircraft
from Boeing and Airbus, has ambitions to double its total fleet size to 810
aircraft in ten years.
The airline chairman said the order could potentially go to
Airbus, given Boeing’s ongoing production challenges.
He explained, “With our current fleet and our Airbus order,
we can reach the target of 810 aircraft if we don’t replace any of our existing
fleet.”
However, the airline has adopted a plan to “split the risks
because right now, Boeing has some production problems, and it might happen to
Airbus sometime later. Therefore, we want to mitigate the risks by using both
products available on the market,” he said.
Over the last 20 years, the airline has expanded its fleet
6.7 times with orders for 424 aircraft, including 126 widebody, 281 narrowbody,
and 17 freighters.
“In 2023, we had a fleet of 65 aircraft. In 10 years, we
will grow it to 810 aircraft. We are pretty confident that we can do it.
“In the last 20 years, our average growth rate has been 12.3
per cent, almost three times more than IATA’s average. In these 20 years, every
year Turkish Airlines had profit… except in 2016 and 2020. Our growth is
sustainable,” he said.
Boeing, Turkish Airlines
William Boeing founded Boeing on July 15, 1916, in Seattle,
Washington, is one of the world’s leading aerospace manufacturers.
Turkish Airlines, or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim
Ortaklığı, is Turkey’s flag carrier.
As of 2024, it provides scheduled routes to 272 destinations
across Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and the Americas, making it the world’s
largest mainline carrier in terms of passenger destinations.