Turkish Airline Adds 21 More Jets While Huge Order Is Expected

As Turkish Airlines looks towards a future of considerable growth, it has bolstered its capacity in the shorter term by penning lease deals to bring 21 more aircraft onboard. While this is just a drop in the water compared to its planned expansion in the coming years, the deals will play a key role in ramping up its capacity in the near term.

Pen to paper

According to FlightGlobal, the 21 aircraft for which Turkish Airlines has recently secured lease deals are predominantly narrowbodies, with just one being a twin-aisle jet. The carrier has yet to disclose the exact models involved, although it is worth noting that a similar deal that it signed last month favored Boeing products.

Narrowbody deliveries are set to begin late next year, with 10 coming onboard from DAE Capital between Q4 of 2024 and Q1 of 2025. Q1 of 2025 will also see four single-aisle jets join Turkish Airlines from Jackson Square Aviation, followed by six from CDB Aviation Lease Finance across a one-year period ending Q1 of 2026.

Photo: Michael Lindner | Airbus

Meanwhile, the sole widebody aircraft, the make and model of which also remains undisclosed, will join the Istanbul-based Star Alliance carrier somewhat sooner. Indeed, as it stands, its delivery is reportedly penciled in for the second quarter of 2024. Simple Flying has reached out to Turkish Airlines for further information.

Targeting significant fleet and capacity growth

Turkish Airlines’ present expansionist fleet strategy goes hand in hand with its future goals in terms of passenger capacity. In the shorter term, it hopes to operate 23 US-bound flights a day in 2024, which the new widebody aircraft will surely play a useful role in. Meanwhile, Istanbul Airport is aiming to handle 100 million passengers a year by 2027, and Turkish Airlines will surely account for many of these.

With this in mind, the carrier is pursuing major fleet growth in the coming years, with FlightGlobal noting that 40 aircraft are set to come onboard in 2024, and 40 to 50 new arrivals planned in 2025. However, in the longer term, it foresees even greater growth with the ambition to double its fleet to over 800 aircraft in a decade.

Photo: EvrenKalinbacak | Shutterstock

Considering the fact that certain aircraft will be withdrawn by then, Turkish Airlines is said to be eyeing up an order for as many as 600 aircraft. This would be split between 400 narrowbodies and 200 widebodies, but supply chain issues have prevented the deal’s completion. It will be interesting to see whether the carrier announces anything at next week’s Dubai Airshow.

Stay up to date: Follow Simple Flying’s coverage of the Dubai Airshow 2023 as it happens

The current fleet

As it stands, data from ch-aviation shows that Turkish Airlines already has one of the world’s largest fleets, with 437 aircraft present. On the passenger front, it features aircraft from the Airbus A320 (159 units), A330 (49 units), and A350 (14 units), as well as the Boeing 737 (136 units), 777 (35 units), and 787 (21 units) series. Its remaining aircraft are A310, A330, 747, and 777 freighters.

What do you make of Turkish Airlines’ latest lease deals? Do you think its growth plans are realistic? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Sources: ch-aviation, FlightGlobal