Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu spoke at the Launch of the Strategic Turkey Advanced Program, which will be implemented in cooperation with Turkish Airlines, Airbus and Rolls Royce.
In his speech here, Uraloğlu stated that Turkish Airlines recently signed a purchase agreement for a total of 105 A350 aircraft, 80 of which are definite and 25 of which are right to purchase, and a total of 250 A321NEO type aircraft, 150 of which are definite and 100 of which are right to purchase, from Airbus, and said,
"It has also reached an agreement with Rolls-Royce to provide engine maintenance services and spare engines for A350 aircraft. In addition, negotiations were held with Airbus and Rolls-Royce on Competitive Industrial Collaborations within the scope of these aircraft purchases."
"It was agreed between Turkish Airlines, Airbus and Rolls-Royce to bring new business packages to our country and to increase our country's production in the field of aviation by bringing together domestic aviation service providers and parts manufacturers with these companies."
At the event, Airbus, Turkish Airlines and Turkish aviation companies introduced the Strategic Turkey Enhanced Programme (STEP), which will create economic value over the next 15 years and further develop the Turkish aerospace industry in line with THY's long-term strategic growth plan.
"We are negotiating with both Airbus and Boeing for the remaining 235 planes," THY Chairperson Ahmet Bolat said at the event in Istanbul with Airbus and Rolls-Royce.
Stating that an agreement has been reached with Rolls-Royce to provide engine maintenance services and spare engines for A350 aircraft, Uraloğlu further added,
"In addition, negotiations were held with Airbus and Rolls-Royce on Competitive Industrial Collaborations within the scope of these aircraft purchases."
"It was also agreed between THY, Airbus and Rolls-Royce to bring new business packages to our country and to increase our country's production in the field of aviation by bringing together domestic aviation service providers and parts manufacturers with these companies."
He said Turkish Airlines "has always followed a balanced policy between Airbus and Boeing," adding that it was waiting for Boeing's problems to end, so it was not in a hurry to make a decision.
Worth mentioning, a January Alaska Airlines mid-air blowout event of a door plug panel in the U.S. led Boeing to undergo severe scrutiny of its facilities and process, hence slow production of its Boeing B737MAX planes.
Bolat also said Rolls-Royce was exploring the potential of establishing maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities in Türkiye, as well as further supply-chain sourcing.
The event was held to unveil a strategic program that Turkish Airlines, Airbus and Rolls-Royce created to develop the Turkish aerospace industry.
Referring to the passenger records broken by Istanbul Airport in recent years, Uraloğlu gave the following information:
"We perform an average of 1386 flights per day at Istanbul Airport, which is the first in Europe. Our average last week was around 1450. Hopefully, we will experience and implement the landing and take-off of 3 planes at the same time on 3 parallel runways, which will be implemented at our Istanbul Airport for the first time in Europe, this year. When this system is implemented, we can all be sure that Istanbul Airport will not lose the first place to anyone again."
In his speech at the event, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır said that he hopes that the investments made by THY, which has one of the youngest fleets in Europe, will be a milestone in the quality and sustainability-oriented growth of Turkish civil aviation.
Pointing out that the aviation industry has taken its place among the supply partners of many global aircraft and engine manufacturers, Kacır said,
"We have the ability to produce all the parts in the fuselage of a passenger aircraft. Today, all new generation passenger planes in the world have a part produced in Turkey."
"We have reached a contract size of 10 billion dollars in aviation structures"
The Strategic Türkiye Enhanced Program (STEP) will identify new projects in which Turkish Airlines and industrial companies can participate, prepare the industry for tenders in advance, ensure the implementation of identified projects and cover investments in the Turkish aerospace sector.
