Boeing lands $11b 787 deal from resurgent Turkish Air

Turkish Airlines said it intends to purchase 40 of Boeing’s 787-9 Dreamliners, a long-awaited deal that signals the carrier’s rebound following a terrorist attack on its Istanbul hub last year. When finalised, the order would be valued at almost $11b before the customary discounts for large aircraft purchases. The pact, unveiled during a brief signing ceremony in New York on Thursday, came after years of market studies and negotiations for wide-body planes as the airline plotted its expansion. Boeing’s carbon-composite Dreamliners will help upgrade Turkish’s fleet of long-range aircraft as it competes with other Middle Eastern airlines amid slowing growth in the region. The carrier’s expansion would hasten President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s goal of making Istanbul one of the world’s premier air travel hubs. The airline already has 75 Boeing 737 Max jets on order, according to the planemaker’s website. Turkish plans to shift operations from Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport to a new hub, which is due to open at the end of the year. “It’s very exciting for them and it’ll open so many new gateways,” said Marty Bentrott, Boeing VP of sales for the Middle East, Russia and Central Asia. “These airplanes are part of that growth plan.”<br/>