The development of Turkish Airlines continues apace with its fleet expansion plans.
In a public announcement posted on its investor relations portal, the Turkish flag carrier declared that it has closed a deal to lease 21 new aircraft.
The exact composition of the order is not known, but it is to be comprised of 20 narrow-bodies, to be delivered between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2026, and one wide-body aircraft to be delivered in the second quarter of 2024.
Six of the narrow-bodies and the single wide-body aircraft are to be leased from CDB Aviation Lease Finance DAC, with the remainder sourced from Jackson Square Aviation (4 aircraft) and DAE Capital (10 aircraft).
This capacity increase is in line with the airline’s stated aim to almost double its fleet to 800 aircraft within a decade. In fact, at several point during 2023 there have been rumors about Turkish Airlines preparing an aircraft mega-order that could be as large as 600 aircraft and include both Boeing and Airbus. However, this option seems to have been postponed due to global issues with engine supply chains.
For the time being at least, Turkish carrier seems to have resorted instead to keeping its fleet expansion plans moving forward through smaller piecemeal orders. In October 2023, it secured an order for 3 Boeing 787-9 and 25 737 MAX 8 aircraft from AerCap and, earlier, in March, it ordered 10 Airbus A350-900s
