Turkish Airlines is on the cusp of the biggest aircraft order in history, according to Ahmed Bolat, the chairman of the board at the Middle Eastern flag carrier.
A week out from presidential elections in the Middle Eastern country, Bolat said an order for up to 600 passenger jets could be placed in June, topping Air India's early-2023 order for a record 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.
Bolat told journalists that the order would likely be for 400 narrowbody and 200 widebody aircraft. He was speaking during a May 11 press briefing about the carrier's in-flight dining offerings.
Bolat said the order would be finalised during the lead-up to Turkey's hosting of an International Air Transport Association (IATA) meeting in June.
"During IATA we are going to announce orders," Bolat said, according to international and local media reports from the May 11 press conference.
The carrier said in its recent quarterly financial update that it plans to double in size over the coming decade, with Bolat adding that the plan was for the Middle Eastern nation's airline to be operating 810 aircraft by 2033.
Muslim-majority Turkey is bordered to the south by other Middle Eastern nations such as Syria and Iraq, with a nugget of land, amounting to 3% of its territory and sitting west of Istanbul, classed as geographically part of Europe.