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Turkish Airlines will add a total of 60 wide-body aircraft to its fleet in the next 6 years, the company said March 9. Turkish Airlines said it has decided to purchase 50 firm and 10 optional wide-body aircraft, of which 6 are to be delivered in 2019, 14 in 2020, 10 in 2021, 12 in 2022, 11 in 2023 and 7 in 2024. “A total of 30 B787-9 aircraft, of which 25 are firm and 5 optional, will be purchased from Boeing and a total of 30 A350-900 aircraft, of which 25 firm and 5 optional will be purchased from Airbus,” the airline said. İlker Aycı, chairman of Turkish Airlines, said the purchase will bring a landmark benefit not only to Turkish Airlines, but also to Turkey’s aviation. “Goodwill agreements turned into firm order, which we consider to be a very important initiative to meet our need for wide-body aircraft at Istanbul’s new airport,” Aycı said. <br/>

United Airlines showed strong traffic numbers in February. The carrier Thursday released its February ops report, and across the boards, United registered traffic gains domestically and internationally. Domestically, traffic was up 5.9% year over year, with gains in both mainline (5.4%) and regional (7.7%). Internationally, the numbers were strong too, with traffic up 5.6% year over year. Trans-Atlantic traffic jumped 8.9% year over year, and trans-Pacific traffic was up 6.8%. Even Latin America grew marginally at 0.5% year over year. Not surprisingly, given the regional stats, United’s consolidated traffic grew 5.7%. The growth in traffic came as United also increased capacity year over year in every region except for Latin America. <br/>

United Airlines — ever on the hunt for ways to fatten its bottom line— has just rolled out a new early boarding option. Called Priority Boarding, the new product allows customers eager to board early and secure overhead storage space to do so by paying an additional fee. Priority Boarding customers will board with Group 2, which also includes Chase preferred credit card holders and certain United passengers with elite frequent traveller status. United has a total of 5 boarding groups for each flight. The fee for Priority Boarding is variable, but starts at US$9. The fee could be higher depending on several factors, including the flight booked, the date, time of day, and day of week. United is introducing Priority Boarding as an option for passengers who do not want to pay a higher amount for the carrier’s Premier Access product. <br/>