Turkish Airlines’s (THY) top executive has said the company may sign an agreement for 250 new Boeing aircraft during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s US visit this week, in what would mark one of the carrier’s largest fleet expansions to date.
THY Chairman Ahmet Bolat told journalist Vahap Munyar, from the Ekonomim news website, during a September 21 flight to New York that the carrier is preparing to finalize the multibillion-dollar deal.
“We may sign during this trip,” Bolat was quoted as saying. He added that negotiations with both Boeing and Airbus had long been underway but that supply pressures were slowing deliveries.
The Boeing contract is expected to feature prominently in Erdoğan’s upcoming talks with US President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House, where discussions are also set to finalize the purchase of 40 latest generation F-16 Vipers as well as consider Turkey’s long-blocked return to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
The remarks came after Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), alleged last week that Erdoğan had promised a major Boeing order during a closed-door meeting with Donald Trump Jr. at the Dolmabahçe working office in İstanbul in an effort to secure the White House meeting.
“They are doing business with Trump’s son through lobbying companies while Palestine is bleeding,” Özel told supporters at a rally on September 17, accusing Erdoğan of pursuing private deals while neglecting Palestinian concerns.
Erdoğan dismissed the accusation as fabricated, saying aircraft purchases are government decisions and not matters for opposition consultation. “We have never and will never consult Özgür Özel about buying planes,” he told reporters.
Neither the presidency in Ankara nor Trump Jr. has confirmed the reported Dolmabahçe meeting. A source close to Erdoğan told Deutsche Welle news website that it was merely a “courtesy visit,” while Washington has not commented.
THY’s announcement marks one of its largest fleet expansions to date. The airline, which already has more than 430 aircraft, aims to surpass 800 by 2033. Bolat first outlined this goal in January 2022, when he became chairman, describing the expansion as key to transforming the company from a “boutique carrier” into a global leader, Munyar said.
Erdoğan’s meeting with Trump at the White House this week will be his first since 2019, during the US president’s first term in office. The relationship between the two leaders has swung between cooperation and tension, particularly after Washington expelled Turkey from the F-35 program in response to Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 defense systems.
Aircraft deals have long been part of Erdoğan’s foreign trips, with the president previously witnessing major Boeing and Airbus signings.