Turkish Airlines Chairman Murat Şeker Comments on Embraer and A220 Evaluation

Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee, Prof. Dr. Murat Şeker, spoke to HavaSosyalMedya during the IATA AGM in Rio de Janeiro and shared the latest developments regarding regional aviation plans and the evaluation of Airbus A220 and Embraer E-Jet aircraft.

“We believe Turkish Airlines has built a very strong and extensive network thanks to its unique geographical position. With our current narrowbody and widebody fleet mix, we have successfully utilized this network in a highly efficient and profitable manner.

However, increasing competition both within our region and across the global aviation industry, along with the need to serve not only primary cities but also secondary and, in some cases, tertiary destinations within the countries we already operate to, brings certain challenges.

In addition, we operate in a region where low-cost carriers have a very strong presence. When we evaluate all these factors together, we believe regional jets deserve serious consideration, despite some uncertainties and challenges.

We initiated feasibility studies on this topic some time ago. As you know, there are currently two major manufacturers in the regional jet segment: Embraer and the aircraft marketed by Airbus as the A220.

We have held discussions with both manufacturers, and those discussions are ongoing. At the same time, our feasibility studies continue.

If our management and Board of Directors conclude that such an investment would create value for the Turkish Airlines Group, we may evaluate one of these two aircraft types.

I cannot be more definitive at this stage, as the feasibility process has not yet been completed. We are also awaiting certain commitments from both manufacturers regarding technical and production-related matters.

In summary, I can say that we remain interested in both platforms and that our evaluation process is continuing.”