Turkish Airlines looks to defer A350s, mulls freighters

Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul New) will take delivery of its first A350-900s which are already under construction but is in talks with Airbus about the deferral of later, still-unbuilt units, Chairman İlker Aycı told Turkish daily Hürriyet.

Aycı underlined that the airline will not postpone the deliveries of its forthcoming narrowbody jets but is also in talks with Boeing regarding the delivery schedule for its B787-9s.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Turkish Airlines has twenty-five A350-900s on firm order from Airbus, of which one - TC-LPA (msn 403) - is nearing completion and was originally due to debut on the carrier's scheduled flights this month. A further six units have already been assigned but are not yet fully built.

In turn, the airline has a further fourteen B787-9s on firm order on top of the 11 it already operates.

Turkish Airlines' order book also includes seventy-five A321-200neo, fifty-four B737-8s, and nine B737-9s.

Aycı said that while Turkish Airlines was looking at "lightening the burden" associated with the expansion of its widebody fleet, it was also exploring options for its cargo unit. Turkish Airlines currently operates ten A330-200(F)s and eight B777-Fs, and wet-leases three A310-300(F)s from ULS Airlines Cargo (GO, Istanbul Atatürk) and two B747-400(F)s from AirACT (9T, Istanbul Atatürk). He underlined that the market disruption caused by the pandemic has increased demand for Turkish Airlines' freighters.

The airline resumed limited domestic operations on June 1, flying from Istanbul New to Izmir, Antalya, Ankara Esenboga, and Trabzon (daily each). The carrier hopes to increase its domestic network starting on June 4 before recommencing limited international services on June 10.

ch aviation