Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) has ordered 220 Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) aircraft with options for a further 125 of them. The carrier announced in a statement on Friday, December 15, that it had ordered:
- fifty A350-900s as new firm orders with purchase rights for a further twenty;
- fifteen firm-ordered A350-1000s;
- five A350F freighters as firm orders plus five purchase rights; and
- 150 A321neo as firm orders plus options for another 100.
Including ten incremental A350-900s that the airline announced on September 1, 2023, this brings the total order with options to 355 aircraft, Turkish Airlines said in its filing.
The order is in line with its growth targets as laid out in the framework of its strategic plan covering the years 2023-2033, it said, adding: “It was decided to purchase a total of 355 aircraft from Airbus and to procure the engine maintenance service and spare engines of A350 aircraft from Rolls-Royce.”
Airbus said in its own statement that “this latest order will take Turkish Airlines’ total orderbook for Airbus aircraft to 504, of which 212 are already delivered.”
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Turkish Airlines already operates sixteen A350-900s with a further twenty-four to be delivered before the latest order was announced. It already operates fifty-five A321-200NX, including fourteen at its AnadoluJet (Ankara Esenboga) subsidiary, and had a further forty-four of the type and three A321-200Ns on order before the latest announcement. It does not currently operate or have orders for the A350-1000 or the A350 freighter.
The carrier had disclosed plans in May to order 400 narrowbodies and 200 widebodies, but a contract was delayed first by the Turkish presidential elections and then by protracted talks with Airbus and Boeing. In August, it said it had received revised proposals from the manufacturers but had yet to make a decision on engine options.
