Turkish Airlines has participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for multiple infrastructure projects including Turkish Technic’s engine maintenance centre and the next phase of a major air cargo facility at Istanbul.

The engine centre will be completed next year and have the capability to service Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 and XWB-84 powerplants – for the Airbus A350 family – as well as the Trent 7000 for the A330neo.

Turkish Airlines adds that its ‘SmartIST’ project will be “one of the world’s largest” air cargo centres, with the second phase programme expanding its annual capacity from 2.2 million to 4.5 million tonnes over 2027-28.

“These projects will further strengthen not only Turkish Airlines’ wings but also those of Tukey’s economy,” says Turkish minister of transport and infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu.

He says the overall investments across eight projects amount to some TL100 billion ($2.3 billion), and will create 26,000 jobs this year – eventually rising to 36,000.

“In line with our 2033 targets, we are developing not only our fleet but also the robust infrastructure that will allow us to fully utilise this fleet,” says Turkish Airlines chair Ahmet Bolat.

The carrier is putting the first phase of a flight-training centre in place by 2027.

Most of the programmes are centred in Istanbul. The projects include a large in-flight catering facility, set to be operational in 2027-28, along with additional Turkish Technic maintenance hangars – offering capacity for 12 aircraft and hiking maintenance capacity by 20%.

Turkish Airlines is also developing an e-commerce complex for next year, as well as an additional crew terminal, followed by a data centre for operational continuity.