Turkish Airlines (THY) General Manager, Bilal Ekşi has confirmed that the company was in talks to add an additional 40 wide-body aircraft to its fleet for its prospective operations at Istanbul New Airport, also known as the Third Airport.

Ekşi said THY was looking to open a new chapter in its growing business at the new airport, which is now almost 73 percent complete.

In an article on the airlines' in-flight magazine, Skylife, Ekşi revealed THY's current and future projects as well as its 2023 targets. According to the Turkish language daily, Habertürk, the THY general manager also focused on the ongoing airport project in Istanbul.

"We are proceeding rapidly to prepare for the transition to this new era that will start with the new airport. In this context, we have initiated talks to include 40 new generation wide-body aircraft to our fleet," Ekşi noted in his article.

"Ahead of 2018, we have strengthened our fleet with two new B777F Turkish Cargo aircraft. We have also commissioned a new state-of-the-art Flight Training Center."