Turkish Airlines is enjoying reports that it is considering placing an order for the world’s largest commercial aircraft, the Airbus A380.
At the end of December Turkish Airlines’ fleet comprised 261 aircraft, an increase of 28 over the previous December. Of these 55 were widebody aircraft (up from 42 a year previously) comprising 16 A330-200s, 18 A330-300s, five A340-300s and 16 777-300ERs. According to the airline’s latest presentation, the widebody fleet is expected to grow to 79 aircraft by the end of 2016 as it takes delivery of a further 12 more A330-300s and 13 777s, although there is no further announced growth for the following five years, despite the opening of the Istanbul New Airport mega-hub in 2017. Maybe this lull in widebody growth is because it expects to take delivery of A380s from 2017 onwards.