One of the leading defense companies in Turkey is the National Aerospace Company Tusaş as part of the National Air carrier “Turkish Yolları /Thy) will establish the production of training aircraft for the preparation of pilots for civil aviation needs.
The project is implemented as part of an agreement between the Thy Academy – Turkish Airlines Flight Academy (Tafa) and Tusaş. According to the agreement at the first stage, it is planned to produce 20 single -engine training aircraft.
The head of the board of directors, Akhmet Bolat, noted that in the next 10 years the airline will need 11 thousand pilots, and the total number of vacant places for pilots in world civil aviation is predicted at 300 thousand
The head of the airline attracted attention to the lack of personnel in Turkey. “The Thy Academy of Thy today produces 201 pilots a year, in general, this indicator varies this indicator within 600 pilots, while vacant places about 1000,” he said.
Bolat noted that the first batch of training aircraft will be transferred to Thy in 2026. “In the next 10 years, we plan to order another 100 aircraft,” he said.
According to him, the importance of the project also is that these will be the first civilian aircraft made in Turkey.
“In the future, production will reach 200 aircraft per year. Tusaş will export these aircraft to the world market,” Bolat said.