Turkish Airlines To Wet Lease 4 Airbus A380

Turkish Airlines is about to sign an agreement to wet lease with an un-named airline for 4 A380. According to sources, the 4 aircraft planned to enter to the fleet by summer.

THY plans to fly with some China destinations which are not easy to increase slots. At the moment, THY's biggest aircraft is Boeing 777-300ER with 337 seat capacity. In January THY also started negations with LOT to wet lease Boeing 787's. According to the plan, THY will open San Francisco route and use the 787's on this route.

For Boeing 777's, THY first wet leased aircrafts from Indian Jet Airways and saw the operation costs from the firsthand. Later THY ordered 777's to Boeing.

According to Airbus sources, total 123 A380 delivered to Emirates (44), Singapore (19), Qantas (12), Lufthansa (10), Air France (9), Korean (8), Malaysia (6), Thai (6), China Southern (5) and British Airways (4)

Operators typically require two to three A380s to serve a given city pair, with the number depending on the distance of the flight and how fast an airline can turn around the plane.