Greetings Turkish Aviation fans,
Welcome to another edition



To start things of:
-TC-LKA went to Indigo, first of three TK 777s to be leased.
-Few Asian carriers are returning to IST.
-Which should start the conversation; do we see the return of a US carrier back to IST? UA or DL?
-From what I can see during slower winter months TK seems to offer less flights from SAW to DLM. SAW-DLM only one flight a day, so leaving the market (not a big market but..) to Pegasus. Whereas 9 flights a day from IST to DLM. Increases during summer.
-Finally, I wonder if you feel the same but there is a lot of negative sentiment out there on social media about TK. If you read comments on Facebook.., majority complaining about TK Customer Service. Do you think this is fixable? Is there a will by TK to act on this?
-There were ongoing discussions about how many 350 frames TK will get 2023/2024. Thanks for all that info. Let’s see how that develops.

Please continue with your views, news, photos, rumors and good old sense of humor.
Safe travels everyone.
You can find last months thread here: Turkish Aviation January 2023

Earlier in one of the Turkish threads, it was mentioned that JFK might get a fourth frequency this summer. Does anyone know if that is still in the works?

Thanks for a new thread I think lots of people complain on social media its not just TK . Read most airlines FB/Twitter feeds and people are complaining about delayed flights , lost bags or delays in refunds etc...

OA260 wrote:

Thanks for a new thread I think lots of people complain on social media its not just TK . Read most airlines FB/Twitter feeds and people are complaining about delayed flights , lost bags or delays in refunds etc...

I agree, I could only imagine what SouthWest airlines is dealing with these days. I guess, what I was trying to say was.. TK did not get hit by recent bad weather/technical glitch/tremendous increase in demand/union issues/labor shortage .... They have been up and running for a longer period since the pandemic.
I guess when given an outlet people tend to go mega negative

TK787 wrote:

-TC-LKA went to Indigo, first of three TK 777s to be leased.

Someone correctly mentioned that in the previous test and the aircraft is now slated for its first flight out of DEL this morning. As it remains in TK colors and will operate with the TC-LKA registration, it will be interesting to see whether it will be used in between those flights because currently it is planned to sit in IST for 9 hours. The planned schedule is:

6E011 DEL IST 0645-1115
6E012 IST DEL 2015-0445

If TK starts using the aircraft for a domestic or regional rotation in between those flights, then TK has for all intents and purposes just found a creative way of increasing India flights.

TK787 wrote:

Greetings Turkish Aviation fans,
Welcome to another edition

To start things of:
-TC-LKA went to Indigo, first of three TK 777s to be leased.
-Few Asian carriers are returning to IST.
-Which should start the conversation; do we see the return of a US carrier back to IST? UA or DL?
-From what I can see during slower winter months TK seems to offer less flights from SAW to DLM. SAW-DLM only one flight a day, so leaving the market (not a big market but..) to Pegasus. Whereas 9 flights a day from IST to DLM. Increases during summer.
-Finally, I wonder if you feel the same but there is a lot of negative sentiment out there on social media about TK. If you read comments on Facebook.., majority complaining about TK Customer Service. Do you think this is fixable? Is there a will by TK to act on this?
-There were ongoing discussions about how many 350 frames TK will get 2023/2024. Thanks for all that info. Let’s see how that develops.

Please continue with your views, news, photos, rumors and good old sense of humor.
Safe travels everyone.
You can find last months thread here: Turkish Aviation January 2023

Hoping TK will receive more A350s this year.

Their Cebu timetable is just bruh, efficient now since it doesn't sit in Cebu for 10 hrs but the outbound TK264 warrants a better schedule, especially for connecting flights.

Anyone have an estimate for the quantity of A350 this year?

Sent from my RMX2030 using Tapatalk

dhdaviation wrote:

TK787 wrote:

-There were ongoing discussions about how many 350 frames TK will get 2023/2024. Thanks for all that info. Let’s see how that develops.

Hoping TK will receive more A350s this year.

Anyone have an estimate for the quantity of A350 this year?

Sent from my RMX2030 using Tapatalk

TK has recently loaded additional A350 flights for later in the year. By December, the following longhaul flights are planned with A350:

TK007/008 IAD
TK015/016 GRU EZE
TK031/032 ATL
TK035/036 YUL
TK185/186 ORD
TK187/188 IAD
TK193/194 GRU

TK038/039 JNB MPM
TK040/041 JNB
TK042/043 JNB DUR
TK044/045 CPT

TK024/025 TPE
TK084/085 MNL
TK264/265 MNL CEB

New additions for this year are ORD, IAD, ATL and TPE, while YVR will change from A350 to B787. These plans can of course change. The additional flights as well as the frequency reinforcements to existing destinations will definitely need additional A350 capacity to come online, starting with TC-LGH this month.

dhdaviation wrote:

TK787 wrote:

Greetings Turkish Aviation fans,
Welcome to another edition

To start things of:
-TC-LKA went to Indigo, first of three TK 777s to be leased.
-Few Asian carriers are returning to IST.
-Which should start the conversation; do we see the return of a US carrier back to IST? UA or DL?
-From what I can see during slower winter months TK seems to offer less flights from SAW to DLM. SAW-DLM only one flight a day, so leaving the market (not a big market but..) to Pegasus. Whereas 9 flights a day from IST to DLM. Increases during summer.
-Finally, I wonder if you feel the same but there is a lot of negative sentiment out there on social media about TK. If you read comments on Facebook.., majority complaining about TK Customer Service. Do you think this is fixable? Is there a will by TK to act on this?
-There were ongoing discussions about how many 350 frames TK will get 2023/2024. Thanks for all that info. Let’s see how that develops.

Please continue with your views, news, photos, rumors and good old sense of humor.
Safe travels everyone.
You can find last months thread here: Turkish Aviation January 2023

Hoping TK will receive more A350s this year.

Their Cebu timetable is just bruh, efficient now since it doesn't sit in Cebu for 10 hrs but the outbound TK264 warrants a better schedule, especially for connecting flights.

Anyone have an estimate for the quantity of A350 this year?

Sent from my RMX2030 using Tapatalk

From last months thread ,

4 new A350 msn for Turkish Airlines according to ATDB
msn 644 ---------------- 2023
msn 659 ---------------- 2023
msn 667 ---------------- 2024
msn 669 ---------------- 2025
Don't know how accurate delivery dates are but if we went by this TK will be taking MSN's 596, 618, 621, 638, 644, 651, 659 and the two ex SU 554, 558 for a total of nine this year but I doubt it more like five or six at most.

Which aircraft will have the special 400th livery ? TK has three A321's ( one for AJ ) one A320N ( AJ ) one 350 and very slim chance a 787 LLS all or most are due this month, LGH looks to be in normal TK livery as for the two A321's and the 787 only time will tell my money is on the dark horse ( 787 ).

Someone once mentioned TK787 LLS has been undegoing works since October.
Why this long? I'm sure a new aircraft can be built in less than a time.

Tkairlines wrote:

Someone once mentioned TK787 LLS has been undegoing works since October.
Why this long? I'm sure a new aircraft can be built in less than a time.

Rework frames can take anywhere between 4-8 months, LLS , LLR and LLT are all going through rework ATM hopefully all three will be delivered by May/June in that order one would think.

FlyArystan, LCC brand of Air Astana will start twice weekly direct flights between Astana and Ankara ESB from May 23rd. They will use A320 to serve the route and the flights will be yearround. The route is already served by AnadoluJet as well.
Ankara Almaty sector is also served by Pegasus and Anadolujet (each twice weekly) thanks to recent amended CAA between the two countries.

airporthaber reports that the INDIGO Delhi flights will change to two other 777s with 7J 524Y seats in the future. Where are these 2 frames coming from?
https://www.airporthaber.com/thy-haberl ... landi.html

TK787 wrote:

airporthaber reports that the INDIGO Delhi flights will change to two other 777s with 7J 524Y seats in the future. Where are these 2 frames coming from?
https://www.airporthaber.com/thy-haberl ... landi.html

That's the configuration of Azur Air so likely ex Emirates frames from the A6-EB* series.

TK787 wrote:

airporthaber reports that the INDIGO Delhi flights will change to two other 777s with 7J 524Y seats in the future. Where are these 2 frames coming from?
https://www.airporthaber.com/thy-haberl ... landi.html

Great news regarding the 77W fleet otherwise the lack of those frames would have definitely hurt TKs ops

A few minutes ago the A350 TC-LGK was transferred from Istanbul (IST) to Istanbul (ISL) where it is to be painted in the TK colors.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/tc-lgk

TK LGK has flown from IST to ISL.
Possible paint job?
Anyone know?

HB-IWC wrote:

TK787 wrote:

airporthaber reports that the INDIGO Delhi flights will change to two other 777s with 7J 524Y seats in the future. Where are these 2 frames coming from?
https://www.airporthaber.com/thy-haberl ... landi.html

That's the configuration of Azur Air so likely ex Emirates frames from the A6-EB* series.

Makes a lot more sense considering that Indigo have 240 seats on their A321N. Well, that is going to be awfully tight^^

524Y !?!?!

What the hell?

TK787 wrote:

airporthaber reports that the INDIGO Delhi flights will change to two other 777s with 7J 524Y seats in the future. Where are these 2 frames coming from?
https://www.airporthaber.com/thy-haberl ... landi.html

Interestingly it also says TK flight attendants will serve the J cabin. 6E is only able to sell Y tickets for these flights, while TK will sell both Y and J. Does this mean there will be a mix of TK and 6E crew on board? I wonder how profitable it will be to assign FAs from TK for just 7 seats.

dozerman wrote:

TK787 wrote:

airporthaber reports that the INDIGO Delhi flights will change to two other 777s with 7J 524Y seats in the future. Where are these 2 frames coming from?
https://www.airporthaber.com/thy-haberl ... landi.html

Interestingly it also says TK flight attendants will serve the J cabin. 6E is only able to sell Y tickets for these flights, while TK will sell both Y and J. Does this mean there will be a mix of TK and 6E crew on board? I wonder how profitable it will be to assign FAs from TK for just 7 seats.

I think the mixed crew setup might just be an interim solution until the TK aircraft gets replaced by a higher density configuration one.

dozerman wrote:

Interestingly it also says TK flight attendants will serve the J cabin.

HB-IWC wrote:

That's the configuration of Azur Air so likely ex Emirates frames from the A6-EB* series.

I don't get this... These 2 high density B777 will be registered and operated by TK?!

debonair wrote:

dozerman wrote:

Interestingly it also says TK flight attendants will serve the J cabin.

HB-IWC wrote:

That's the configuration of Azur Air so likely ex Emirates frames from the A6-EB* series.

I don't get this... These 2 high density B777 will be registered and operated by TK?!

Yes, according to the AirportHaber article the 2 high density 777s will be added to the TK fleet.

Six coalition parties jointly released an election manifesto with hundreds of provisions once and if they replace the ruling Government in Türkiye after the elections to be held on May 14th. Among the provisions an article says "....re-opening of ISL (formerly Istanbul Atatürk Airport) for passenger services as well as strengthening Ankara Esenboğa Airports’ position as the leading transfer point for international to domestic flights for cities within Türkiye vice versa..."

TK105 wrote:

524Y !?!?!

What the hell?

Ha Ha Ha....
And all this time we were talking about TK to order 747/380??
Who knew
If this happens, if TK gets these 7J/524Y planes, any idea if there is a minimum FA requirement or any other certification TK has to go through.
Thanks.

And finally, QATAR reaches an agreement with Airbus about the 350 deliveries.
Does this affect in any way how many 350's TK might get in the near term? Thanks.

TK787 wrote:

And finally, QATAR reaches an agreement with Airbus about the 350 deliveries.
Does this affect in any way how many 350's TK might get in the near term? Thanks.

As has already been reported several times, there was never a statement on the Qatar A350, neither from TK nor Airbus, those were pure speculations.

I also wrote this last month, TK will rent 2 77W and operate them for IndiGo.
I have the information that not only 2 but a total of 3 more are to be leased. Assuming, of course, that nothing has changed in the meantime
changes

The 3 ex Kenya Airways 77W (TC–LKA/TC–LKB/TC–LKC) were previously used frequently to London and Dubai, but mostly on the two India routes to Mumbai and Delhi. Therefore, this agreement is by no means surprising.

https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1479865&start=100 Post #117

aldrigsomandre wrote:

dozerman wrote:

TK787 wrote:

airporthaber reports that the INDIGO Delhi flights will change to two other 777s with 7J 524Y seats in the future. Where are these 2 frames coming from?
https://www.airporthaber.com/thy-haberl ... landi.html

Interestingly it also says TK flight attendants will serve the J cabin. 6E is only able to sell Y tickets for these flights, while TK will sell both Y and J. Does this mean there will be a mix of TK and 6E crew on board? I wonder how profitable it will be to assign FAs from TK for just 7 seats.

I think the mixed crew setup might just be an interim solution until the TK aircraft gets replaced by a higher density configuration one.

As far as I know, besides the pilots, only the purser is from TK. Rest of the crew is 6E

TKflyer wrote:

A few minutes ago the A350 TC-LGK was transferred from Istanbul (IST) to Istanbul (ISL) where it is to be painted in the TK colors.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/tc-lgk

If LGK will be painted, then only LGI is remaning unpainted, right?

TKflyer wrote:

I also wrote this last month, TK will rent 2 77W and operate them for IndiGo.
I have the information that not only 2 but a total of 3 more are to be leased. Assuming, of course, that nothing has changed in the meantime
changes

The 3 ex Kenya Airways 77W (TC–LKA/TC–LKB/TC–LKC) were previously used frequently to London and Dubai, but mostly on the two India routes to Mumbai and Delhi. Therefore, this agreement is by no means surprising.

https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1479865&start=100 Post #117

If we believe the reports of Airporthaber and the density of 524Y and the rumors that these 2 frames could be from Azur Air, there is 1 frame already in ISL and 1 in SAW sitting since Nov 2022, according to planespotters (VQ-BZB and VQ-BZC).

On TK's website it states the following regarding Indigo wet lease In this context, the B777-300ER type aircraft (with 28 BC + 372 EC seats) in the Turkish Airlines fleet will start operations on IST-DEL route, and will be replaced with the B777-300ER type aircraft (7 BC + 524 EC seats) that will be added to the flag carrier’s fleet later on. Following this, flights will be provided on the IST-BOM line with the second B777-300ER type (7 BC + 524 EC) aircraft that will be joining Turkish Airlines’ fleet.

Link here https://www.turkishairlines.com/ru-int/ ... lease/?p=1

By my understanding on this LKA will be replaced by two 77W and TK will keep it's own metal.

I predict that mid-summer, with the 77W fleet again overscheduled, there's bound to be pressure or temptation to send those 2 Indigo planes (although they may well end up in some sort of hybrid TK scheme) into the regional and domestic network. After all, they will sit on the ground in IST for 9 hours between DEL/BOM rotations so an easy solution to clean up some backlog to AYT, TLV or ATH and the like. At 7C/524Y, that takes care of a lot of backlog.

HB-IWC wrote:

I predict that mid-summer, with the 77W fleet again overscheduled, there's bound to be pressure or temptation to send those 2 Indigo planes (although they may well end up in some sort of hybrid TK scheme) into the regional and domestic network. After all, they will sit on the ground in IST for 9 hours between DEL/BOM rotations so an easy solution to clean up some backlog to AYT, TLV or ATH and the like. At 7C/524Y, that takes care of a lot of backlog.

completely agreed.

TKflyer wrote:

TK787 wrote:

And finally, QATAR reaches an agreement with Airbus about the 350 deliveries.
Does this affect in any way how many 350's TK might get in the near term? Thanks.

As has already been reported several times, there was never a statement on the Qatar A350, neither from TK nor Airbus, those were pure speculations.

What I meant was, now what Qatar 350's not avail. any more, with less frames available in the market, TK and others have to compete harder for remaining NTUs.

Absolutely.
The market for seconhand and ntu A350 is hotly contested. Not only did Delta, ITA Airways and Lufthansa stock up recently and the Qatar A350s are no longer available, the remaining available Aeroflot A350s will probably be harder to come by than ever.

Another 321N to join AJ MSN11249 maybe TKflyer can confirm https://www.flickr.com/photos/194588565 ... 665572223/

Flight Global is also saying Turkish Airlines has signalled its intent to operate two ultra-high-density Boeing 777-300ERs as part of a wet-lease deal with codeshare partner IndiGo
https://www.flightglobal.com/fleets/tur ... 05.article
Also agree with member HB-IWC up thread.

TK773ER wrote:

Another 321N to join AJ MSN11249 maybe TKflyer can confirm https://www.flickr.com/photos/194588565 ... 665572223/

Right, no reg. at the moment

TKflyer wrote:

TK773ER wrote:

Another 321N to join AJ MSN11249 maybe TKflyer can confirm https://www.flickr.com/photos/194588565 ... 665572223/

Right, no reg. at the moment

With ten ATM and two due soon plus this one how many more is TK taking for AJ ? According to planespotters https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Anadolu-Jet
I wouldn't be surprised to see a total of 20 at this rate.

The cancelled 350 MSN's for SU are 554, 558, 585, 592, 594 there is also MSN 589 although not sure if this frame was in tendered for SU, Also don't know if MSN's 601, 606 and 608 are about to enter FAL or parts of these three have arrived and been used for other airlines ?

With production rate increasing to six per month ( currently five ) in early 2023 parts for TK's own MSN 618 and 621 have already been built. Airbus should be able to build 60-70 frames this year alone.
Having said that nine 350's ( including MSN 554 558 ) could be delivered by 2023, No news yet on TK ordering additional 10 frames ? Even if they do I doubt further SU frames will come across to TK apart from the two mentioned MSN's.

Is there any chance TK might order additional 787'S in the future? Would they order 787-10'S for higher demand routes?

TK773ER wrote:

The cancelled 350 MSN's for SU are 554, 558, 585, 592, 594 there is also MSN 589 although not sure if this frame was in tendered for SU, Also don't know if MSN's 601, 606 and 608 are about to enter FAL or parts of these three have arrived and been used for other airlines ?

With production rate increasing to six per month ( currently five ) in early 2023 parts for TK's own MSN 618 and 621 have already been built. Airbus should be able to build 60-70 frames this year alone.
Having said that nine 350's ( including MSN 554 558 ) could be delivered by 2023, No news yet on TK ordering additional 10 frames ? Even if they do I doubt further SU frames will come across to TK apart from the two mentioned MSN's.

I am reading in the thread on additional AF A350 orders that some of these SU frames may potentially go to that order as well. The reasoning seems to be that Air France has gotten a hold on relatively early production slots.

I feel that TK stands a better chance with additional NTU 787 frames. There seem to be quite some that are not spoken for in what is currently stored in Victorville and San Antonio.

georgiabill wrote:

Is there any chance TK might order additional 787'S in the future? Would they order 787-10'S for higher demand routes?

TK eventually has to replace their massive fleet of 50 pax A330s and they have already ruled out the A330neo, so yes.

AOK wrote:

Hi Everybody,

Turkish Aviation is set to gain another Airline. This will be the 4th Airline in Turkey starting operations in 2022.

1st was MG Aviation
2nd is Southwind Airlines
3rd is Anka Air (will carry both passengers and cargo)

4th is called BBN Airlines (BBN Havayolları ve Taşımacılık A.Ş)

51 percent of this company, belongs to Barbas Invest Limited, established in Dublin,
and 49 percent belongs to Mif Investment UAB, established in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The name behind Barbas Invest is a Turkish citizen.

> The company planned to add 2 A321 aircraft in December 2022 (TC-GPA, TC-GPB) and 2 more A321 aircraft in April 2023
> Three B737-800 type aircraft are being considered for cargo operations.
> Aircraft base will be in Antalya.
> Livery looks like it was based on AirBaltic livery

https://bbnairlines.com.tr/#about

Almost nobody believed it, it was more like a virtual airline. But apparently BBN Airlines has now actually started.
With the first aircraft, an Airbus A321, which is currently being prepared in Antalya, charter operations are to be started shortly.

• TC–... Airbus A321-232 msn 3302, ex D-AVZS, VT–KFY Kingfisher, OE–ICK AWAS, SX–DGP Aegean Airlines, DAE Capital currently std at AYT

TURKISH AIRLINES 38th A321NX
TC-LTP Airbus A321-271NX msn 11148 on delivery flight Hamburg (XFW) to Istanbul (IST)
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/tc-ltp

And by the way, why did TK miss TC-LSI in its A321neo row (and TC-JTB/JTC in A321s)?

A321Lufthansa wrote:

And by the way, why did TK miss TC-LSI in its A321neo row (and TC-JTB/JTC in A321s)?

TC-LSI I don't know but JTB and JTC was used by Sultan Air earlier (2 times B737-300, msn 23781 and 23783).

Yakamoz wrote:

A321Lufthansa wrote:

And by the way, why did TK miss TC-LSI in its A321neo row (and TC-JTB/JTC in A321s)?

TC-LSI I don't know but JTB and JTC was used by Sultan Air earlier (2 times B737-300, msn 23781 and 23783).

And it is forbidden to use a turkish reg for the second time even if it was not used for years?

A321Lufthansa wrote:

Yakamoz wrote:

A321Lufthansa wrote:

And by the way, why did TK miss TC-LSI in its A321neo row (and TC-JTB/JTC in A321s)?

TC-LSI I don't know but JTB and JTC was used by Sultan Air earlier (2 times B737-300, msn 23781 and 23783).

And it is forbidden to use a turkish reg for the second time even if it was not used for years?

I guess it is not forbidden. I remember that Sunexpress last year used a reg which was used many years ago. Probably TK didn't want to go into a long process with forms and so on.

Does anyone when the eight TAM 332's leases expire ? Will TK renew leases ?

Also the forever parked 333 ex Afriqiyah Airways what's the go with this one ?