Turkish Airlines, the flag carrier of Turkey, is currently in discussions with Airbus to significantly expand its fleet through an order for 355 new aircraft. If finalized, this move could mark the airline’s largest order in its 90-year operational history.
The Istanbul-based airline is aiming to expand both its wide-body and narrow-body aircraft fleets with plans to add 85 A350-900s and 15 A350-1000s – the largest variant in the A350 family. Additionally, the historic order will potentially include five A350Fs dedicated to serving Turkish Airlines cargo operations, as reported by Anadolu news agency on November 10, 2023.
People familiar with the matter have confirmed to Turkish state-run media that the airline has already engaged in discussions with Rolls-Royce regarding the terms of supplying A350 spare engines and engine maintenance services.
This potentially record-breaking order in Turkish Airlines’ history will also significantly boost its narrow-body fleet capacity, with the carrier looking to add 250 A321neo jets as part of the deal.
In September 2023, Turkish Airlines unveiled an order for an additional ten A350-900 aircraft, bringing its total for this type to 40 at the time. This agreement followed a previous announcement in August 2023, where the airline committed to adding four -900 variant wide-bodies.
Currently, Turkish Airlines operates a mixed fleet consisting total of 339 aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing. This includes 14 Airbus A350-900s, 21 A330-200s, 36 A330-300s, 65 A321-200s, 41 A321neos, 12 A320-200s, and six A319-100s. The carrier also flies 35 Boeing 777-300ERs, eight 777F cargo airliners, and 21 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, according to the Planespotters.com registry.