Soaring Turkish Airlines To Buy 95 New Planes From Boeing

Turkish Airlines, the world’s fastest-growing large carrier, is making a push to grow even more.

In a statement released Tuesday, Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing said that the Istanbul-based company has committed to order 70 new planes, with the option to order an additional 25.

The statement details that Turkish Airlines will purchase 40 of Boeing’s 737 MAX 8s, 10 of 737 MAX 9s planes and 20 Next-Generation 737-800 models that add up to $6.9 billion.

The growing airline plans to purchase these planes over a period of five years from 2016 to 2021.

Last month, Turkish Airlines announced that it would buy 117 narrow-body planes, 82 of which are firm orders, from Airbus – Boeing’s European rival.

The goal of this purchase by Turkish Airlines is to meet its projected number of 90 million passengers by the end of 2020. Last year, the company carried 39 million passengers and expects to serve 46 million this year.

Turkish Airlines’ expansion means a projected annual sales of $18 billion, the company hopes, a $10 billion increase from last year’s reported sales.