Turkish Airlines Orders Up To 75 Boeing 787 Dreamliners

Turkish Airlines has shaken hands with Boeing on a deal that will see the carrier purchase up to 75 twin-aisle aircraft from the US planemaker’s 787 Dreamliner family. The agreement, which consists of 50 firm orders and options for another 25 more, represents the largest-ever Boeing widebody purchase in the history of Turkish Airlines, and comes as the carrier charts an ambitious path of fleet and network expansion.

With both the mid-sized Boeing 787-9 and the larger Boeing 787-10 variants of the Dreamliner family involved in the Turkish flag carrier’s order, the airline will see significant capacity growth as a result of the deal, while also enhancing its passenger experience on long-haul routes. Separately, it has also announced its intent to seal the deal on an agreement for as many as 150 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody twinjets.

Turkish Airlines’ Largest-Ever Boeing Widebody Order

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Boeing announced earlier this morning that Turkish Airlines had confirmed an order for up to 75 widebody twinjets from its 787 Dreamliner series. This figure includes 25 options, but, of the 50 firm orders, 35 will be examples of the mid-sized 787-9 variant, while the stretched 787-10 model accounts for 15.

The order, which represents part of Turkish Airlines’ ongoing fleet growth and modernization efforts, is the carrier’s largest-ever purchase of widebody aircraft from Boeing, with the American planemaker saying that it “will support more than 123,000 jobs across the US.” Ahmet Bolat, who serves as the Chair of the Board and the Executive Committee at Turkish Airlines, welcomed the order, explaining that:

“This landmark agreement represents much more than fleet growth. It is a reflection of our leadership in the industry as well as our dedication to innovation and operational excellence.”

Working Towards 800 Aircraft

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Bolat went on to add that “the addition of these advanced Boeing aircraft to our fleet will not only enhance our operational capabilities, but also become a significant element supporting Turkish Airlines’ 2033 Vision of expanding our fleet to 800 aircraft.” This widely publicized goal has been making headlines across the industry recently, as noted by Simple Flying’s coverage of the matter earlier in the month.

In order to achieve this goal, the Turkish flag carrier will need to add 300 aircraft to its fleet in eight years, so the firm orders for the 787 series alone already account for a sixth of this total. Should it take up the options for another 25 Dreamliners, the total of 75 aircraft would represent a quarter of the required growth.

Turkish Airlines already flies the mid-sized Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with present fleet data made available by ch-aviation showing that it has 24 examples of the type at its disposal. These modern widebodies are just 4.4 years old on average, compared to a fleet-wide mean figure of 13 years, and have 300 seats onboard. According to aeroLOPA, this figure consists of 30 business class seats and 270 in economy.

Turkish Airlines Also Wants To Grow Its Narrowbody Fleet

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Turkish Airlines’ order for up to 75 widebody twinjets from the 787 Dreamliner family wasn’t Boeing’s only reason to be cheerful this morning as far as the Istanbul-based Star Alliance member was concerned. Indeed, the US manufacturer was also able to report that Turkish Airlines wants more Boeing narrowbodies.

Indeed, Boeing’s statement today also noted that Turkish Airlines has “announced its intent to purchase up to 150 more 737 MAX airplanes” in order to grow its narrowbody fleet, “which will be its largest Boeing single-aisle order when finalized.” When combined with the 787 order, the total figure will see Turkish Airlines double its Boeing fleet, which also features older aircraft from the 737NG and 777 families.

Indeed, on the narrowbody side of things, data from ch-aviation shows that the Turkish flag carrier currently has 69 737-800s and 15 737-900ERs at its disposal, as well as 27 737 MAX 8s and five 737 MAX 9s. Meanwhile, aside from its 787s, its Boeing widebody fleet also features 36 777-300ERs.