GE Aviation’s GEnx-1B74/75 engines will power Turkey’s flag carrier Turkish Airlines’ 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners (25 firm and five options), which were ordered in March 2018. The airline also signed a 15-year TrueChoice Flight Hour agreement with GE for maintenance, repair and overhaul for the GEnx-1B engines ordered.

“The GEnx engine offers the optimum reliability, utilization and fuel efficiency of any engine on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and will properly suit Turkish Airlines’ needs as we continue to enhance our aircraft fleet with modern aircraft technologies,” said M. İlker Aycı, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee.

 “Turkish Airlines’ order affirms the confidence that operators have in the reliability and performance of the GEnx engine, which is the most popular engine powering the B787 Dreamliner,” said Chaker Chahrour, VP Global Sales & Marketing at GE Aviation. “This order further strengthens our relationship with Turkish Airlines, and we look forward to the GEnx engine joining the airline’s growing fleet,” he added.

GE Aviation has sold more than 2.000 GEnx engines in less than 15 years since launching the program, solidifying it as the fastest selling high-thrust GE engine in history. With the most advanced technologies and materials, the GEnx has the highest reliability and utilization, lowest fuel burn and longest range capable of any engine available on the B787 aircraft. The highest-pressure ratio compressor in commercial service today enables the best fuel efficiency in its thrust class, resulting in the GEnx engine powering the longest B787 routes. The GEnx’s innovative lean burning twin-annular pre-swirl (TAPS) combustor dramatically reduces NOx and other regulated gases below today’s regulatory limits and enhances durability. As the world’s first commercial engine with both a carbon fiber composite front fan case and fan blades, the GEnx fan module is lighter in weight, corrosion resistant with less line maintenance and improved reliability, and is the quietest engine GE produces. These leading-edge technologies and engine architecture bring high operational reliability and result in a high utilization rate of GEnx-powered B787 aircraft for more flights per year and more revenue for airlines. 

The GEnx engine has significant ties to the Turkish aerospace industry. The Turkey Technology Center in Gebze, Kocaeli and its 400 engineers helped design the GEnx engine along with other commercial, military and industrial engines. TUSAS Engine Industries, Inc. (TEI), which was founded 33 years ago and of which GE holds a 46 percent share, manufactures close to 40 GEnx components.

Turkish Airlines said in March 2018 it would purchase up to 30 B787-9 aircraft from Boeing, as well as another 30 A350-900 (25 firm and five options) aircraft. All of the aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2024. The airline has selected Trent XWB engines for A350-900s and a contract was awarded in March 2018 to fit Trent XWB engines in 25 Airbus A350-900 aircraft with TotalCare service support. Turkish Airlines also has options to additionally power five A350-900 aircraft with Trent XWB engines.