Turkish Airlines has been receiving proposals from various engine manufacturers for potential 600+ new generation aircraft order, but the airline is yet to decide on the engine options, Turkish chief executive, Murat Seker clarified during the quarterly earnings call.
"Of course, the engines are playing a key role there. So, while we are trying to decide on which aircraft type to [order], we are also very closely investigating which engine types to get and which type of maintenance contracts to get in addition. That is the reason why we have not announced any decision yet. But it's not going to take too much further time," Seker said.
In May, the airline had announced its plans to buy 400 narrowbody and 200 widebody aircraft, the deal was expected to be sealed during the IATA AGM in Istanbul but Turkish presidential elections as well as delay in talks with Airbus and Boeing further extended the order.
Turkish Airlines aims to grow its capacity by 7-10% per year in terms of available seat kilometres (ASKs). If the aircraft deliveries are not on time, the airline will source additional capacity by taking the aircraft on lease.
As of August 4, the airline had 425 aircraft in its fleet, including aircraft operated by AnadoluJet and sourced through wet leases. It expects to add ten net units by the end of 2023, growing to around 460-470 at the end of 2024, 500 by the end of 2025, and eventually to about 600 by 2028.
Meanwhile, Turkish has already grounded nine out of its 52 A321-200NX for Pratt & Whitney engines inspections.
"Our technical team is looking at the situation closely, we might be adding two or three more to the list [in the coming months]. So overall, we might finish the year with 11 or 12 narrowbody aircraft grounded due to the GTF engine problem," Seker added.