A Bit Of Everything: The Turkish Airlines Fleet In 2023

A Bit Of Everything: The Turkish Airlines Fleet In 2023

Turkish Airlines is one of the world’s most well-connected carriers, a factor that it can further leverage through its hub’s convenient location at the new Istanbul Airport (IST). The Star Alliance member does so with a large and varied fleet, with ch-aviation.com showing its diverse portfolio of 429 aircraft features narrowbodies and widebodies from both sides of the Airbus-Boeing duopoly.

Widebodies

Starting with widebody designs from European planemaker Airbus, Turkey’s flag carriers favor two different aircraft families. At the older end of the spectrum, it flies an impressive 61 aircraft from the A330 series, with this figure being split between 13 A330-200s, 36 A330-300s, and 12 cargo-carrying A330-200F jets.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines also flies 14 examples of the next-generation Airbus A350-900. These twin-engine widebodies are among the carrier’s youngest aircraft, with an average age of just 1.9 years old, compared to a fleet-wide mean figure of 9.4 years. They seat either 329 passengers across two classes (10 aircraft) or 316 passengers across three classes (four aircraft).

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As for Boeing widebodies, Turkish Airlines generally favors the 777 and 787 ‘Dreamliner’ families. The former is represented by 43 aircraft at the carrier, with this figure comprising eight 777-200F cargo jets and 35 passenger-carrying 777-300ERs. Alongside these, the airline also operates 20 787-9s, with 300 seats in two classes, as well as a single leased cargo-carrying 747-400F.

Narrowbodies

While many legacy airlines choose to build their narrowbody fleets around a single aircraft family due to the commonality benefits that this structure offers, Turkish Airlines has not adopted this strategy. Instead, its large and diverse single-aisle fleet features various models from both the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 series.

As far as A320ceo family jets are concerned, the carrier has six A319-100s, 18 A320-200s, and a whopping 72 A321-200s at its disposal. It also favors the stretched-fuselage model when it comes to the next-generation A320neo series, with 54 examples of the A321neo in its fleet, compared to just four standard A320neos.

As pictured above, Turkish Airlines’ most numerous aircraft type across its whole fleet is the Boeing 737-800, of which the carrier currently has 86 examples. These fly alongside 30 737 MAX 8s, 15 737-900ERs, and five 737 MAX 9s, which make up the rest of the Turkish flag carrier’s Boeing 737 family sub-fleet.

Big plans for future fleet development

Going forward, Turkish Airlines’ sizeable fleet will only get bigger, with the carrier reportedly aiming for a portfolio of 800 aircraft by 2033. As it stands, it has another 84 aircraft scheduled for delivery, with this figure comprising 46 Airbus A321neos, one A330-200, 26 A350-900s, six Boeing 737 MAX 9s, and five 787-9 Dreamliners. It will undoubtedly be interesting to see what else the carrier orders to reach the 800 mark

What do you make of Turkish Airlines’ current fleet? How many of its aircraft have you flown on? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Source: ch-aviation.com

• Turkish Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code: TK/THY Airline Type: Full Service Carrier Hub(s): Istanbul Airport Year Founded: 1933 Alliance: Star Alliance CEO: Bilal Ekşi Country: Turkey