Turkish Airlines inks lease agreements for six 737 MAX 8 aircraft

CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing (CDB Leasing), has inked lease agreements for a series of six Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to its current customer, Turkish Airlines (Turkish), the flag carrying airline of Türkiye.

All six aircraft are part of the lessor’s existing orderbook with Boeing and will be powered by CFM International Leap-1B engines. The aircraft will be built in AnadolouJet-specific configuration, which is a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines. Deliveries are set to take place in 2024 and 2025.

“We’re delighted to have signed these new lease agreements with our valued customer, Turkish Airlines, for the financing of the upcoming six 737 MAX aircraft deliveries from our orderbook,” stated Jie Chen, CDB Aviation’s Chief Executive Officer. “Turkish has become a leader among airlines in undertaking sustainability-focused initiatives to modernize every stage of their flight and ground operations. These highly efficient aircraft will bring Turkish closer to achieving its ambitious sustainability goals by lessening the environmental footprint of its mainline and subsidiary carrier’s flight operations.

Levent Konukcu, Turkish Airlines Chief Investment and Technology Officer, commented: “We are proud to collaborate with partners like CDB Aviation in our pursuit of excellence. Adding these aircraft to the AnadoluJet fleet will contribute significantly to our goals and allow us to present remarkable travel experiences to our passengers.”

With the addition of the six MAX aircraft, CDB Aviation will have nine aircraft on lease to the carrier, including one 737-800, one 777-300ER and one A320neo. In 2022, the lessor delivered Turkish Airlines’ first A320neo, which marked a significant step forward in the airline’s ongoing fleet modernisation process.