ISTANBUL—Turkish Airlines has delayed the announcement of an order for 600 aircraft by two months.
The carrier originally planned to reveal the order during the IATA AGM in Istanbul, but the need for a second round of voting in Turkey’s presidential election in May prompted the airline to delay the announcement.
“The election took two weeks longer and we were very close with one manufacturer, but to be fair to the second one we are going to delay the announcement by around two months and not going to rush,” Turkish Airlines chairman Ahmet Bolat said during a press meeting at the AGM.
With the upcoming order, Turkish Airlines plans to be operating a fleet of over 800 aircraft by 2033.
The order is expected to include 400 narrowbodies—either the Airbus A320neo or Boeing 737 MAX families. The order would also include about 200 widebodies—either the 787 or A350—and 25 to 30 777Xs or A350 XWBs, Bolat said.
“Those aircraft, the A350XWB or 777X, should allow Turkish Airlines to operate daily from Istanbul to Melbourne where a large Turkish community is living,” he said. “We are also talking with the engine providers for this fleet.”
Turkish Airlines plans to launch flights to Australia in December, bringing the number of countries it serves to 130. Services to Australia will be routed via Singapore until the new aircraft are available.
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