Turkey's aviation giant targets $10B turnover in decade

NIDGE, Turkey

Turkey's aviation giant is targeting a $10-billion turnover in a decade, an official said Thursday.

The Turkish Aerospace Industries Corporation (TAI) is also aiming to increase its number of employees to 20,000, professor Fahrettin Ozturk, strategic and technology head of the firm, said at an event in central Nigde province.

The firm ranks 64 in the aviation sector globally, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants it to be among the top 10, he added.

"We closed last year with $1.65 billion [turnover], we exceeded half a billion in export currently," he added.

Turkey became a country which is able to produce its warplane, helicopter, satellite, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Ozturk noted.

He also said TAI produces components for top aircraft companies such as Airbus and Boeing.

TAI, established in 1973 under the Ministry of Industry and Technology and restructured in 2005, works on reducing the foreign dependency in defense and aviation industry of Turkey. It produces planes, helicopter, UAV, satellite, and aircraft components.

*Writing and contributions by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul