Turkish Airlines To Buy 95 More Boeing Planes

April 10, 2013
The airline plans to double its current fleet of 215 Airbus and Boeing planes and expand the destinations it serves by 50 percent.

The Turkish national carrier Turkish Airlines said that it would buy 95 more planes from Boeing as the airline pursues a shopping spree launched in December.

"Our board of directors has decided to buy 20 planes in 2016, 20 in 2018, 15 in 2019, 30 in 2020 and 10 in 2021 from Boeing to meet the need for narrow-body planes," a Turkish Airlines statement said, adding that 70 of the orders were firm ones, and 25 were options.

A breakdown of the aircraft on order showed that 20 were B737-800, 65 were B737-8 MAX and 10 were B737-9 MAX.

Financial details were not provided, but a Boeing official said that the firm order for 75 planes would cost $6.9 billion at catalogue prices, while the options added $2.5 billion to the bill. Discounts are common for aircraft orders however, especially when large numbers are involved.

"At the moment it is a commitment order," the official said on condition of anonymity. "We look to finalise the deal in the coming weeks," he said. The announcement came less than a month after the airline said it would buy up to 117 planes from Boeing's main rival, the European manufacturer Airbus, with those deliveries scheduled between 2015 and 2020.

In December, Turkish Airlines passed orders for 15 long-haul A330 planes from Airbus and 15 777-300ER from Boeing. In February the airline followed up with a firm order for two more A330-300s.

With the latest purchases, the Turkish Airlines is planning to double its current fleet of 215 Airbus and Boeing planes and expanding the destinations it serves by 50 percent.

The airline, twice selected as the best European airline, posted a 20-percent rise in passengers last year to 39 million. It aims to reach 46 million passengers in 2013, generating a turnover of $9.7 billion (EUR7.2 billion). Unlike many European carriers which are suffering from a downturn in their market, Turkish Airlines is in an aggressive push to become a global airline player, putting itself in direct competition with Middle Eastern rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways.

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