Turkish Technic adds a seventh Istanbul hangar and GE-licensed avionics repair as it courts third-party MRO work
Turkish Technic, the maintenance, repair and overhaul subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, is steadily building the kind of scale that matters to European and Gulf carriers shopping for heavy-maintenance slots. In the space of a month this summer the Istanbul-based company commissioned its seventh hangar at the former Atatürk Airport and secured a licensing agreement with GE Aerospace covering avionics repair. Both moves are aimed at the same target: a larger share of the third-party MRO market in a region where hangar capacity is tight.
Capacity: 57 aircraft at once in one city
The new hangar, announced on 22 August 2026, is a refurbishment of a 1996-built facility that had been idle for some time. At 29,400 square metres it can accommodate two narrow-body and one wide-body aircraft simultaneously. Turkish Technic says the addition lifts its concurrent maintenance capacity in Istanbul to 57 aircraft and its enclosed floor space in the city past 850,000 square metres. The building also houses classrooms, allowing trainee technicians to study under the same roof as live maintenance lines.
General Manager Mikail Akbulut framed the opening as confirmation of the company’s claim to the largest single-city aircraft maintenance capacity of any MRO provider worldwide. Turkish Airlines Chairman Murat Şeker, speaking to Aviation Week at the IATA annual meeting in June, put the group-wide figure at roughly 60 aircraft at once across Turkish sites, with a further hangar under construction at Istanbul Airport and a large facility already operating at Sabiha Gökçen. Şeker also said the unit generates close to 1.5 to 2 billion dollars in annual revenue and employs about 12,000 people.
GE Aerospace licence for DCDU repair
The agreement signed with GE Aerospace at the Farnborough International Airshow on 21 July 2026 is narrower but strategically telling. It covers Data Link Control and Display Units, the cockpit hardware through which crews handle digital data-link messaging. GE Aerospace will supply dedicated test equipment, OEM parts and structured technical support, and will license the technical data needed for Turkish Technic to perform GE-authorised DCDU maintenance, repair and overhaul at its Istanbul shops. The initial term is five years, and the capability will be offered to both domestic and international airlines.
Yasin Birinci, Turkish Technic’s Chief Technical Officer, called the deal an important step toward expanding the company’s electronics service capabilities. Kris Shepherd, President and General Manager of GE Aerospace Electrical Power Systems, said the collaboration brings electronics services closer to customers and strengthens Türkiye’s aerospace services ecosystem. GE Aerospace’s release lists Turkish Technic’s workforce at 11,650 and notes GE’s own installed base of more than 3,100 commercial and defence engines in the country.
Component pooling as the growth engine
Component pooling, rather than airframe heavy checks, is where most of the company’s 2026 third-party announcements have landed. In January it signed a pool agreement covering Pakistani carrier AirSial’s entire A320ceo fleet; in March it added a multi-year agreement with Uzbekistan’s Centrum Air for its A320 fleet. A separate agreement with Air India Express covers component exchange and repair for 190 Boeing 737-8 and 737-10 aircraft. According to Şeker, talks with Boeing and Airbus on a wide-body component pool at the Istanbul facility are ongoing, and an agreement with Rolls-Royce covers both airframe and engine overhaul work.
Where defence fits
Turkish Technic is primarily a civil MRO house, but it lists defence industry projects among its service lines and exhibited at the SAHA EXPO defence and aerospace fair in Istanbul in May 2026. Its certifications include EASA, FAA and the Turkish DGCA. For NATO air forces operating commercial-derivative platforms, the relevance is indirect: an EASA-rated provider with wide-body capacity on the alliance’s south-eastern flank. No verified public figures exist on the volume of military work the company performs.
A company profile is available on the Turkish Technic page in our Turkish defence industry directory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Turkish Technic?
Turkish Technic is the MRO subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, incorporated in 2006 and headquartered in Istanbul, with hangars at Istanbul Atatürk, Sabiha Gökçen, Istanbul Airport and Ankara Esenboğa.
What does the GE Aerospace agreement cover?
GE-authorised maintenance, repair and overhaul of Data Link Control and Display Units at Turkish Technic’s Istanbul facilities, under an initial five-year term.
How much capacity does Turkish Technic have?
The company says the new Atatürk hangar lifts its simultaneous maintenance capacity in Istanbul to 57 aircraft; group-wide the chairman cites roughly 60.
