Turkish Airlines is now going to accept fewer deliveries of the Airbus A321neo in 2019 than was previously thought.

This shift in the Istanbul based airline's policy follows the company’s first-half earnings briefings according to aviation website Flight Global. For the first half of 2019 Turkish Airlines has reported a net loss of $203 million on revenue of $5.9 billion.

Turkish Airlines had earlier thought that, after having released its first-quarter results, it would be looking at a fleet of 17 A321neos by the end of the year.

Turkish Airlines is now getting 15 A321neos rather than the 17 it was expecting

This estimate has by all accounts been trimmed down to a fleet of 15 A321neos rather than the 17 aircraft it had previously projected.

The Turkish national flag carrier made no mention as to why the deliveries had been scaled back. However, we do know that Airbus has been dealing with several challenges that could be delaying some A321neo deliveries.

By the end of the year, Turkish Airlines is expecting to have a fleet of 239 single-aisle-planes. It is sticking by this estimate despite knowing that its order with Boeing for the 737 MAX will be delayed.

Turkish Airlines currently operates seven Airbus A321neos

Turkish Airlines currently has a fleet of seven Airbus A321neos, the first of which was delivered from Airbus’s Hamburg facility in July of 2018.

The first A321 was laid out in a Cabin Flex configuration that is capable of transporting 240 passengers. Rather going for the maximum number of seats, Turkish Airlines opted to configure the aircraft for fewer passengers, offering 20 business class and 162 economy class seats.

Half of Turkish Airlines' order for 92 A321neo aircraft from Airbus will be configured as above. The other 46 will feature 16 seats in business class and 174 in economy.

Turkish Airlines wants to have one of the youngest fleets in the air

When Turkish Airlines first took delivery of the A321neo, the airline's chairman, İlker Aycı told website The Design Air how important he felt having a young fleet was for Turkish Airlines future, saying:

“One of the most important components in reaching our 2023 targets is of course to constitute a sufficient and young fleet. Considering this fact, with the large-scale aircraft orders, especially we have given in the past few years to adequately support our ever-expanding flight network; we aim to offer a comprehensive fleet capacity to our passengers all over the world.

And in this context, we are delighted to add the newest member of the A320 family, A321neo to our fleet which stands for one of the youngest in the world.”