Turkish Airlines is reportedly in talks with Boeing to acquire eight 747-8i jets for use on passenger flights.
We’ve heard rumors for years about interest from Turkish Airlines in acquiring 747-8s (and A380s) but past 747 rumors centered around THY Cargo, the airlines’ cargo division. The aircraft purchase is billed as an opportunity to reduce frequencies to cities already served.
If the $3 billion purchase is finalized, the national flagship carrier will reduce the number of flights to one to destinations where the airliner flies more than once per day. For routes with three flights a day, the company will fly twice with the 747-8i and another flight will be with the Boeing 777-300ER. Moreover, the purchase will also lead to the rebirth of the four-engine 747 Jumbo, whose manufacture has been decreased.
Maybe I’m reading that wrong, but that makes no sense to me…going from three 777-300ERs to two 747-8i and one 777-300ER flight will not reduce capacity, it will increase it. The 777-300ER has 349 seats (300 economy / 49 business).
The new 747-8i would reportedly have “410 [seats] in three classes.” Turkish does not currently offer three classes of services. It used to offer a true first class on 777s leased from Jet Airways, but has returned those aircraft. It also used to offer a “Comfort Class” (premium economy) on its 777-300ERs that it pulled out, claiming the seats were uneconomical and balkanized business class purchases.
> Read More: Review: Turkish Airlines 777-300 Economy Class from Istanbul to Los Angeles
CONCLUSION
I don’t put all that much stock into this odd article from the Daily Sabah, an English pro-government daily, but I figured it was worth reporting…just in case. I’d love to see a 747-8i in Turkish livery.
Guess my silly head must’ve “auto-corrected” the article to mean airport pairs like IST-JFK where Turkish Airlines operates 3 daily nonstops (2x with 777-300ERs, 1 A-330) would change to 2x 747-8s, and markets with double daily nonstop 777s would switch to a single 747-8 to account for past discrepancies with Google translate!!!
But yes, as presented, there otherwise seems to be some confusion as to how substituting 747-8s for two frequencies while maintaining a third 777-300 is a reduction in capacity.
Of course, we’re talking about the airline industry, where Slimline seats that are nearly as hard as a park bench, spaced in rows with less legroom than a city bus, and are one inch (or more) narrower when used on nine abreast 787s and ten abreast 777s, are “better” and “more comfortable” than the wider seats, on more generously spaced rows are.
And that’s before any consideration of the doublespeak in many an airline’s press releases touting “Basic Economy” as being a fare reducing, passenger sought, “option” or “choice” to “only pay for what you want” when it means the exact opposite!!!
So, Google translate gremlins or not, or perhaps notwithstanding my broken brain “auto-correcting”, of course, the “logic” stated in the article could very well just be the “new normal” in airlineland where there’s a complete divergence and disconnect between “facts” as they would like us to believe, and facts as they actually are!!!
Just the same, if Turkish Airlines and Boeing have a card up their sleeves that can result in an enhanced and optimized three-class, 410 passenger 747-8 featuring conventional 3-4-3 ten abreast rows at 32″ pitch for the main cabins, while capitalizing on the upper deck to offer a unique and “exclusive” premium product that no other single deck aircraft in its current fleet can, then that would be awesome.
The 747 is still a magnificent airplane. Anyone who has had a chance to fly on the upper deck or in the very front cabin knows these sections offer a degree of privacy and exclusivity unmatched by virtually everything except, perhaps, the novelty suites on A380s that only Jennifer Anniston, a handful of other celebrities, an occasional CEO, and billionaires can afford.
It’s a lack of imagination by the airlines about how to exploit the unique characteristics of the 747, and the ability to get away with despicable and shamefully “densified” 777s that pushed the Queen of the Skies aside.
Here’s hoping Turkish Airlines changes this with a game-changing, innovative configuration that allows for the 747-8 to continue her role as the one and only Queen of the Skies for at least one more generation to come!!!
Fingers, toes and more crossed…
I have my fingers crossed on this as well as this news has already been floating in the air for quite sometime now.
I’m still hoping that this push through. 🙂
I do agree with you that airlines lack imagination or lack the knowledge of what BA was doing with their 744s.
Not going with 747s
Boeing Lands $11 Billion 787 Deal From Resurgent Turkish Air https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-21/boeing-lands-11-billion-787-deal-from-resurgent-turkish-air
Wow!
Hope they do away with the old school 2-3-2 biz class seating that the 777 300er has. Economy is dreadful unless it’s on the a330, somewhat bearable 2-4-2.