LEADING NEWS SOURCE FOR TURKEY AND THE REGION

LOCAL > Turkish state fleet buys new plane

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet

Hürriyet Photo

Hürriyet Photo

A new plane is set to be added to Turkey’s state fleet, the Airbus A330-200, a long-range double corridor plane, daily Hürriyet reported yesterday.

There are currently seven jets in total in Turkey’s fleet, including one A319 jet, two G550 jets, two GIV jets and two Cessna Citation V type jets.

The 2000 model Airbus A319 Corporate Jet (CJ), titled TC-ANA, is the biggest one of the fleet. It was used by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for five years in the Italian Air Force inventory. Turkey bought the plane in 2005.

The A319’s seat capacity is 36, with a crew of three pilots and five cabin attendants participating in each flight. In longer flights, one extra pilot and one cabin attendant can join the flights. The plane can fly for nine hours without fuel transplant. With a range of around 8,000 kilometers, it can reach Canada from Istanbul, but it has to be refueled in order to reach the United States from Istanbul.

There are 22 captain pilots and 18 cabin crew members working in the Turkish Airlines’ General Aviation VIP Plane Department, and this crew does not work on Turkish Airlines flights. All education standards are in compliance with Turkish Airlines rules. In addition, the Turkish Airlines technical teams are responsible for the maintenance work on these jets.

March/10/2013

Send to friend »

READER COMMENTS

Click for Hürriyet Daily News comment guidelines

Chris Green

3/11/2013 11:34:26 AM

"Without fuel transplant"? Goodness me, are they carrying a 'Flight Surgeon' in the cockpit crew? Whatever it is they have bought, they would have been better off with a Boeing 737-700ER! You can 'fly' a Boeing...after all!

Engin Atik

3/11/2013 1:33:02 AM

I am sure that plane has seen great parties with Silvio and the mile high club.

cezer skonore

3/10/2013 4:32:01 PM

They got this A332 plane for long haul flights, A319 is a short haul plane. The problem with this expense is this: The cost of the new plane is approx. $250M. THY had seven long haul A343's tying to sell (four engines, heavy, little bit high maintenance, so that not so efficient for everyday passenger use), one of which can be converted to a presidential plane for only $50-60M. Merkel uses an A343 type plane. Using a $250M-plane puts Erdogan in par with Middle-Eastern Kings.

Tevfik Alp

3/10/2013 2:59:28 PM

New plane? It's five years old.

Kerem Kemal

3/10/2013 1:21:27 PM

must be a good airplane, cause it was Silvio's
< >

WRITE COMMENT

MOST POPULAR

AcerPro S.I.P.A HTML & CSS Agency