The regional jet market has been a duopoly for a long time, with Bombardier and Embraer being the biggest, and often, the only suppliers. Mitsubishi is entering the market but seems a few years away still – rumors suggest their program might see EIS slip and year or two.
Meanwhile there is potentially a new player eying the market.
Turkey has long had aerospace ambitions. There is even talk of building a fighter. At the center of all Turkey’s aerospace ambitions is Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
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Start My Test Flight →Collaborating with Ukraine’s Antonov, TAI hopes to enter the commercial aerospace world. Previous dalliances with Bombardier and Embraer led nowhere. Antonov is is in a different position than Bombardier and Embraer. Antonov has been facing great difficulties. Consequently Antonov is an aerospace OEM looking for opportunities. A deal with TAI might be just the opportunity it needs to get funding and develop its business.
There are no details other than a 120-seat aircraft is planned. In terms of a timeline, a deal is expected to be signed in March.  In terms of what the aircraft might look like, we expect a version of the 99-seat AN-158 could be stretched to seat 120. Turkey seems to be making lots of plans for 2023, their centennial year. This might be the target year announced in March.
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