Turkish Airlines (THY) is contacting banks over the financing of Airbus and Boeing planes that will be delivered in 2016. THY plans to borrow up to $3 billion. Sources say 85 percent of the cost of the Airbus planes will be financed by the European Export Credit Agency (EECA), and the same percentage of the cost of the Boeing planes and the backup engines from General Electric will be financed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States. It is believed that THY is seeking loan deals with five to 12 years maturity and will consider borrowing in foreign currency as well as fixed or variable interest opportunities.
In 2016, 17 planes from Airbus and 26 planes from Boeing will be delivered. THY is currently undertaking an expansion process called the "2008-2023 Fleet Projection Program." The company ordered 117 aircraft from Airbus and 95 aircraft from Boeing, which will all be delivered by 2021. With these planes, the THY fleet will consist of a total of 439 aircraft.
Sources claim that the loans will not have a state guarantee, and the paperwork for the credit deals will be based on the average price of the ordered planes. THY expects banks to submit their financing offers by July 27. Initially, THY issued $328 million worth of EETC bonds in March to finance the new planes. Following an evaluation meeting at the end of February, THY announced that they could issue bonds up to $2 billion to $3 billion in foreign markets to generate funds for new and previous plane orders.
