Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will produce domestic and national aircraft for Turkish Airlines (THY) to use in pilot training.
The signing ceremony of the agreement signed between Turkish Airlines Flight Training and Airport Operations Inc. (TAFA-Turkish Airlines Flight Academy), a 100% subsidiary of THY, and TAI for the production of 20 single-engine pilot training aircraft was held at the THY Headquarters.
Speaking at the ceremony, THY Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee Prof. Dr. Ahmet Bolat noted that they had signed dozens of contracts before and said that they had never been this excited about any contract they had signed before.
Expressing that THY will need 11 thousand pilots in 10 years, Bolat said that the need for the next 10 years around the world is calculated as 300 thousand.
“When we look at Turkiye, we currently train 201 pilots a year”
Bolat stated that these pilots will be trained by flight schools and continued his words as follows:
“When we look at the capacity of the flight schools, the capacities of the flight schools are clear. When we look at Turkiye, we currently train 201 pilots a year, nearly 400 others, 600 in total. Our need is an average of 1000. That means we need 400-500 more pilots to train each year. Here, too, the most important bottleneck is the aircraft. The orders for the planes we are currently giving are coming in 2026.
There is a bottleneck all over the world. In that respect, this will perhaps be a modest contract right now, we are ordering 20 aircraft. However, we need 100 aircraft in 10 years. When we look at the world’s need for aircraft, there is a need for more than 3,000 aircraft at the same time.”
First in Turkiye
Noting that he attaches great importance to this agreement, Bolat said, “For the first time in Turkiye, an aircraft serving domestic and civil aviation will be produced. In this, we were already collaborating with TAI, our strategic partner of Turkish Airlines, and we, as Turkish Airlines, are proud to be involved in such a project for the first time.”
Stating that a line will be established where 200 aircraft will be produced annually, Bolat said, “So it will not be limited to only twenty aircraft. TAI is getting into this business to sell aircraft to the whole world. In that respect, I am happy that we have formed the basis of a good cooperation.”
“This very valuable signature will carry us to the civil field”
TAI General Manager Temel Kotil stated that this agreement will be the signature of their entry into the civil aircraft project and made the following statements:
“We will design and deliver our aircraft in an original way and as soon as possible. This agreement will open up some opportunities for us here. We are a defense company. We are actually an air defense company, together with KAAN, Hurjet, Hurkus, Anka-3, Anka-2, Aksungur and Anka, Gokbey, Atak helicopters and satellites. However, this signature is very valuable. Because now we have set foot on civilians.”
Noting that they joined forces with the Turkish Airlines Flight Academy (TAFA) in order to train civilian pilots after their experience, Kotil gave the following information:
“We will produce long-lasting trainer aircraft, equipped with the latest technology avionics systems, with superior performance and flight quality compared to their counterparts, and with our domestic and national resources, at our facilities to meet THY’s pilot trainings. With the inclusion of aircraft in the Turkish Airlines inventory, we will significantly reduce our foreign dependency in this regard. Today, we are working hard to make Turkish aviation compete with the world in every field.”
It is aimed to completely replace the TAFA fleet with domestic and national aircraft
According to the information given at the meeting, as a result of the negotiations with the manufacturers of existing and alternative aircraft types used in TAFA, it was understood that there would be global problems in the medium and long term in aircraft procurement.
It was agreed by TAFA that the single-engine training aircraft that can meet the training needs should be produced by TAI with domestic and national resources.
In 2026 and 2027, it is aimed to replace the TAFA fleet completely with domestic and national aircraft by continuing to purchase 20 aircraft, as 10+10 (optional) aircraft and if the aircraft meet the current efficiency in the same way.
Source: Trthaber / Prepared by Irem Yildiz