Turkish Airlines To Order 600 Jets, Biggest Aircraft Order In History

Turkish Airlines To Order 600 Jets, Biggest Aircraft Order In History

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Turkish Airlines is expected to place an aircraft order soon, which could be the biggest aircraft order ever placed by an airline.

Turkish Airlines plans to order 600 new aircraft

As reported by Reuters, Turkish Airlines Chairman Ahmet Bolat has today announced that the airline plans to place a major aircraft order in June 2023. Specifically, the airline intends to order 600 planes, including 400 narrow body jets and 200 wide body jets.

He expects all of these planes to be delivered by 2033, and hopes that at that point the airline will have a fleet of 810 aircraft. As a point of comparison, currently the airline has a fleet of around 435 aircraft.

Just a few weeks ago, Turkish Airlines revealed massive growth plans, as the airline wants to double in size in the coming decade. By 2033, the airline hopes to have annual revenue of $50 billion, fly to 269 destinations, and serve 170 million passengers annually.

If Turkish Airlines does indeed order 600 aircraft as planned, this would be the largest aircraft order in history. Air India recently announced an order for 470 new jets, including aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing. That was otherwise the biggest aircraft order we’ve ever seen in history.

It’s probably just a coincidence, but the timing of this announcement is quite interesting. Türkiye’s presidential election is in a few days, and that could have major implications for the path the country takes going forward (and that also impacts the airline, which is primarily government owned).

Will Turkish Airlines order more Boeing 787s?

What aircraft could Turkish Airlines order?

There’s no real insight yet as to what this aircraft order will look like. My assumption is that this order will be with both Airbus and Boeing. With Turkish Airlines looking to pick up 600 planes, we’ll likely see a little bit of everything.

When it comes to the 200 wide body planes Turkish Airlines plans to order:

  • I think it’s a given that Turkish Airlines will pick up more Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 787-9s, as the airline already has these in its fleet
  • I wouldn’t be surprised to also see some other variants of those jets, like Airbus A350-1000s and Boeing 787-10s
  • I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Turkish Airlines order the Boeing 777-9, as its new flagship aircraft; that aircraft is currently expected to enter service as of 2025, though it has already been delayed by five years, so who really knows

When it comes to the 400 narrow body planes that Turkish Airlines plans to order:

  • I think it’s a given that Turkish Airlines will pick up more Airbus A321neos and Boeing 737 MAX 8s
  • I also expect we’ll see different variants of these jets, including the Airbus A321LR and Boeing 737 MAX 10
  • I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Turkish Airlines order some Airbus A220s, given that there are many markets where this plane could come in handy
  • I suppose it’s also possible that Turkish Airlines may order Embraer E2 jets, though personally I don’t think that’s particularly likely
I imagine Turkish Airlines will order more Boeing 737 MAXs

Bottom line

Turkish Airlines intends to order 600 new jets in June 2023, including 400 narrow body planes and 200 wide body planes. This is part of Turkish Airlines’ goal of doubling in size over the next decade, growing its fleet to well over 800 aircraft. If Turkish Airlines does in fact order 600 planes, this would represent the largest aircraft order in history.

What do you make of Turkish Airlines’ aircraft order?

Conversations (28)
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  1. AAB Guest

    Or simply they r sticking to their growth plan on 810 aircraft by 2033

  2. Mutlu Guest

    I am expecting that THY will order the A350-1000 to start up its kangaroo routes to bothe Melbourne and Sydney. I don't think that they will order the B777-9 at this stage going by what the president of the airlines has said regarding proven aircraft and that they, THY only order aircraft that has proven itself and the B777-9 has not even been delivered to its launch customer let alone proven its self.

  3. Hyper Inflation Guest

    This story is like how CNN thinks reporting anything as news without context is useful. Turkey is on the verge of economic collapse, as their inflation is like 20 percent the last 5 years. When your money is useless, your country can not afford planes. Zero chance they get 600 new planes.

    https://twitter.com/DAcemogluMIT/status/1658094948649148416

  4. iamhere Guest

    What's the point of this article? Guessing what they will order?

  5. Stephen Guest

    With their safety record and the slew of negative reviews it's an airline I wouldn't touch with a barge pole (no matter how long)

  6. Tiger Guest

    There are many chances Turkish Airlines will order the Airbus A350-1000 or the Boeing 777X or both like Lufthansa.

  7. Tim Dunn Diamond

    The best explanation for this massive order is that Turkey has major elections on Sunday.
    The second best explanation is that they desperately want to top United's order for widebodies and both are driven by egos.

  8. Tom Guest

    And I even know why. To replace all flights of Aeroflot

  9. Anton Guest

    This is a clear attempt to grab market share because Turkish Air can fly over Russia and many other airlines cannot. One of the reasons India is doing the same thing. They will have a huge competitive advantage on long-haul flights and I suspect this large order would be dominated by wide-body planes and maybe A321XLRs. They might also become a launch customer for A220-500.

    The biggest problem is to get the airplanes (and...

    This is a clear attempt to grab market share because Turkish Air can fly over Russia and many other airlines cannot. One of the reasons India is doing the same thing. They will have a huge competitive advantage on long-haul flights and I suspect this large order would be dominated by wide-body planes and maybe A321XLRs. They might also become a launch customer for A220-500.

    The biggest problem is to get the airplanes (and engines) when they need them as aerospace industry has very big problems coming back from pandemic slump. Just look at Q12023 delivery numbers from Boeing and Airbus - they are not even close to 2019.

  10. ConcordeBoy Diamond

    The only thing with these advertised "biggest order ever" is that half of the claimed units tend to options that never get exercised.

    So is this gonna ACTUALLY be a 300unit order (still massive, I know), or are we talking 600 firm-- because if so, that'd be beyond precedent!

  11. Adolfo Guest

    Good news. Turkye is a major world power.

  12. AZTravelGuy Guest

    We are Turkish Airlines. We are globally yours.

  13. STEFFL Diamond

    Still (so far) THE BEST airline to fly in any Class of A L L European Airlines and by far the BEST European STAR ALLIANCE Carrier, by network, frequencies and Service.
    NOT 1 other airline in that Alliance can compete with TK in Europe.
    Not even those wannabe 5* carries! :-) :-) :-)
    Hopefully 1 day, we can say good bye to all these LH-Group airlines?
    One of the most corrupt...

    Still (so far) THE BEST airline to fly in any Class of A L L European Airlines and by far the BEST European STAR ALLIANCE Carrier, by network, frequencies and Service.
    NOT 1 other airline in that Alliance can compete with TK in Europe.
    Not even those wannabe 5* carries! :-) :-) :-)
    Hopefully 1 day, we can say good bye to all these LH-Group airlines?
    One of the most corrupt airlines on this planet and especially in Europe.
    TK, my personal favorite in Europe and on select aircrafts on Long-haul too.
    Except there online service, that IT needs to change to a PRO version soon! ;-)

    1. Phillip Diamond

      You’re funny! One of the most corrupt airlines on this planet? But the airline owned by one of the “developed” world’s most corrupt governments is not?

  14. Gabe Zichermann Guest

    I don’t know about regional aircraft though. Seems counter intuitive.

  15. TravelinWilly Diamond

    "Turkish Airlines’ presidential election..."

    I think you meant "Turkey's presidential election" and not "airlines."

  16. ArnoldB Guest

    They should focus on not descending into civil war after Erdogan loses the elections first...

  17. Nick Guest

    "annual revenue of $50 million?"

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Nick -- Whoops, that should have been billion. Fixed, thanks!

  18. jetset Diamond

    Guessing you mean $50 Billion and not Million for their target revenue in 2033?

    They’d be running a pretty poor airline if they served 170 million passengers and only collected 50 million in revenue ;)

  19. JAMES Guest

    I sure hope their revenue is more than 50 million.

  20. Tony Guest

    As you mentioned there's an important election in Turkey in just a couple of days and the current government will likely lose which will show that this order only a PR campaign.

  21. Nelson Diamond

    Unless erdogan wins the elections again.
    I wonder how much of them will be MoU...

  22. Ray Guest

    I just hope they install wider business class seats than the Stelia Opals they currently have on 787s and A350s. I'm travel-sized, but still find them uncomfortably narrow!

    1. Jason Guest

      Agree!! I was just on IST-IAD on the 787 in March in business and found it too narrow. It was uncomfortable

  23. Mike O. Guest

    Regardless of the amount of orders, it's just good to see the world opening up again, the industry getting back on its feet, airlines renewing their fleet.

    1. ConcordeBoy Diamond

      ^ This, more than anything.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Mike O. Guest

Regardless of the amount of orders, it's just good to see the world opening up again, the industry getting back on its feet, airlines renewing their fleet.

4
TravelinWilly Diamond

"Turkish Airlines’ presidential election..." I think you meant "Turkey's presidential election" and not "airlines."

2
Tim Dunn Diamond

The best explanation for this massive order is that Turkey has major elections on Sunday. The second best explanation is that they desperately want to top United's order for widebodies and both are driven by egos.

1
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