ISTANBUL: Turkish Airlines plans to order more than 100 narrow-body planes by the end of March and will finalise five new Airbus A330-300 orders this week on top of 35 wide-body aircraft ordered last year, its chairman told Reuters.
The world's fastest-growing major carrier is a key battleground for the world's dominant planemakers. Last year it ordered wide-body jets from both Airbus and its rival Boeing in deals worth billions of dollars.
"I cannot give an exact number for the narrow-body plane orders, but it will very likely be over 100. We aim to finalise this order by the end of March," Turkish Airlines Chairman Hamdi Topcu said in an interview in his office in Istanbul.
"We ordered 20 Boeing 777-300 and 15 Airbus A330-300 (last year). We want them as soon as possible are in talks to add five more (A330s) to this order. We aim to finalise it this week."
The company, 49 percent owned by the government with the remainder floated on the Istanbul stock exchange, is considering issuing a bond to finance its expansion but a secondary public offering for the airline is not currently on the government's agenda, he said.
Topcu said Turkish Airlines was open to closer ties with Lufthansa under any sort of model that brought mutual benefit, but that there were currently no firm plans.
"The cooperation model with Lufthansa is not yet clear. We are looking into what we can do. We are ready for any such cooperation but no board decision has been taken," he said.
"If the model to be formed is going to be beneficial for both companies, we are open to any kind of talks."
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