Turkish Airlines (THY) expects the engine repair bottlenecks that have kept dozens of its Airbus aircraft grounded for months to persist for another two years, the national flag carrier's chief financial officer said on Monday.
The company will end 2025 with 45 Airbus jets grounded due to unusually long Pratt & Whitney repair waiting times. It started the year with 35 jets left idle.
"Next year, it will continue in the same fashion," CFO Murat Şeker told a European aircraft conference hosted by the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT).
Last year, on average, some 40 Airbus A320neo-family jets were grounded due to the maintenance backlog, he added.
"I think it is going to last until the middle of 2027 at least. We will have a significant number of aircraft grounded."
THY is one of several carriers to face disruption from the longer-than-usual repair turnaround times, which have also affected carriers like Hungary's Wizz Air.
The average turnaround time is some 200 days, Şeker said, adding that THY had received "some reasonable compensation" from Pratt & Whitney, part of U.S. aerospace giant RTX Corp.
RTX did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
RTX Corp CEO Chris Calio told a conference in September that cases of aircraft on the ground due to Pratt engines have stabilized, and are expected to come down, but "clearly we have more work to do." The company expects maintenance, repair and overhaul service to be up 30% year-over-year.
The jet shortages have pushed up air fares for passengers and the prices of engine spares for airlines, leading to tough negotiations over maintenance deals, industry sources say.
According to its 2023-2033 strategic plan, Turkish Airlines aims to expand its fleet to over 800 aircraft by 2033. It had 485 aircraft by the end of June, according to its latest presentation.
In line with its strategic plan, the carrier said in May 2023 that it had started talks with the manufacturers in order to procure around 600 aircraft.
Last month, it unveiled a deal with Boeing for 225 jets, including 150 of its 737 Max model, but said it was subject to a deal for engines supplied by Franco-American manufacturer CFM.
The followed its December 2023 announcement of a 355-plane order from Airbus.
