The countdown has begun for Turkey Space Agency included within the 100 Day Action Plan announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said, the agency that oversees Turkey’s national interests, to ensure coordination in the field of space inustries devlopment. He continued that Turkish Space Agency, in the field of space technologies, will co-ordinate the work done at the national level and would be announced in a structure to develop international relations. Varank said that «by strengthening the Space industry, the scientific infrastructure in space technology and development of human resources, we are establishing the Turkey Space Agency to further increase our capacity and capability in this sector» he said.
In the aviation sector; higher education institutions are investing heavily in aviation in recent years. Aviation diploma programs, especially those with a foreign language in English, are among the priority choices of candidates. The most outstanding educational institutions in aviation sector in Turkey; Samsun Ondokuz Mayıs University Aerospace Technologies Research and Application Center, Anadolu University Aerospace Sciences Faculty and Istanbul Rumeli University Vocational School. Graduates from these schools can take part in the leading institutions of the aviation industry, including Turkish Airlines.
According to the predictions of the aviation authorities in Turkey, the aviation industry in 2023 will reach a fleet of; 100 wide-body, 450 narrow-body and 200 regional aircraft, a total of 750 aircrafts. When business jets are added to these figures, in the next 10 years, it is predicted there will be a need of 6.000 pilots and 10.000 technicians.
Aviation sector in Turkey has done a remarkable breakthrough. The sector, which grew by 5 percent in the World, has grown almost three times of the world average in Turkey in the last years. One of the most important investments made in Turkish aviation sector was to ensure the sustainability of this growth is the third airport project in Istanbul, the world’s largest airport, which construction has launched on 7 June 2014 and has its first flights arriving and departuring during Summer 2018. This project is aimed to transform Istanbul into a global center for air traffic, maintenance and training. Therefore, the need for staff in the sector is growing steadily. According to the Boeing Company’s Pilot and Technician Needs Report, more than 1 million new technicians and pilots will be needed in the aerospace industry by 2032.
Also Boeing and Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TAI), signed an agreement for the production of elevator for the 737 MAX aircraft. The agreement between Boeing and TAI, on one hand, boosts TAI-produced Boeing Commercial Aircraft products while it also supports Boeing’s fastest-growing 737 MAX, the world’s most popular plane. This agreement further strengthens the close industrial partnership of the two companies and also contributes to Boeing’s long-standing relationship with the Turkish aerospace industry.