AJet (VF, Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen) is looking to heavily reduce its dependence on wet-leases to run its operations, expecting to halve the number of ACMI aircraft it uses next year, while also increasing its share of next-generation planes, Turkish Airlines chairman Ahmet Bolat said.
In an interview with aeroTELEGRAPH, Bolat said the expectation is for the LCC to have 200 aircraft by 2033 which will allow it to reach 55 million passengers per annum, according to an earlier Turkish Airlines report.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that AJet currently operates a fleet of six in-house B737-800s, and 74 wet-leased jets, including six A320-200s, four A320-200Ns, twelve A321-200s, thirteen A321-200NX, nine B737-8s, and thirty B737-800s. It wet-leases mostly from parent Turkish Airlines, but also from BBN Airlines Türkiye, SmartLynx Airlines, SmartLynx Airlines Estonia, and SmartLynx Airlines Malta.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Aviation Week, Bolat said that AJet, formerly known as AnadoluJet, now manages its own policies, has its own Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), and is looking to increase the share of next-generation aircraft in its fleet from 30% to 90% in the next three years.
However, he added that this goal will only be reached if aircraft manufacturers deliver as promised. AJet expects to add twelve B737-8s in the future, while Turkish Airlines has 291 aircraft on order, including 194 A321-200NX.
ch-aviation has reached out to AJet and Turkish Airlines for comment.
