Turkish Airlines is likely to proceed with plans to acquire very large widebody aircraft, with a decision likely to be made on either the A380-800 or the B747-8 before the end of the year.
Turkish Airlines Chairman Hamdi Topcu said: “Turkish Airlines is on the lookout for ultra wide-body aircraft such as A380s because the company has reached the network capacity to fly them. We haven’t come to a conclusion about which is more suitable for our network yet, but we are trying to make a decision as soon as possible.”
To accommodate the flag carrier’s expansion plans, the Turkish government also intends to open a third international gateway in Istanbul capable of handling 150 million passengers per annum in late-2018.