Turkish Airlines Negotiating an Eye-Watering 355 Aircraft Order with Airbus 

Turkish Airlines, the national carrier of Turkiye, is reportedly negotiating with Airbus to significantly boost its fleet with an order for 355 new aircraft. If the deal goes through, the airline will have placed its most significant order in its 90 years of history.

The Istanbul-based airline hopes to increase its wide-body and narrow-body aircraft numbers by ordering 85 A350-900s and 15 A350-1000s. In addition, the deal may include five A350Fs specifically for Turkish Airlines’ freight services.

Turkish state-run media cited sources familiar with the situation as revealing that the airline had begun negotiating with Rolls-Royce over the terms under which it would deliver A350 spare engines and engine maintenance services.

As a side benefit, Turkish Airlines hopes to add 250 A321neo planes to its narrow-body fleet as part of this record-breaking purchase in its history.

Turkish Airlines ordered ten more A350-900 aircraft in September 2023, increasing its total for this class to 40. The agreement follows an August 2023 announcement in which the airline agreed to acquire four wide-bodies of the -900 variant.

Turkish Airlines operates 339 aircraft, a mix of Airbus and Boeing models. There will be 41 Airbus A321neos, 12 Airbus A320-200s, six Airbus A319-100s, and 14 Airbus A350-900s. According to the aircraft registry Planespotters.com, the airline also operates 21 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, eight Boeing 777F freight airliners, and thirty-five Boeing 777-300ERs.