Temel Kotil, chief executive of Turkish Airlines, has ruled out acquiring Airbus A380s as long as the flag-carrier is based at its primary hub Istanbul Ataturk International Airport reports Martin Rivers.

"No, it is not on the table," he told Arabian Aerospace on the sidelines of an industry conference. "Truly it is a nice machine, but Ataturk Airport is not suited for that type."

Media reports have repeatedly linked Turkish Airlines to a possible A380 deal. In November, Ahmet Bolat, the flag-carrier's chief investment and technology officer, seemed to corroborate the rumours when he told The National newspaper that the type was under evaluation.

Aviation news website Flightglobal also last year linked Turkish Airlines to the double-decker type, citing unidentified sources who said that two units would be sub-leased from Malaysia Airlines.

But Kotil dismissed any such transaction, describing Turkish Airlines' A330-300s and 777-300ERs as "big enough" for its requirements.

"Also, if we buy it [the A380] we can't buy just one or two. We would need a dozen," the airline boss added, referring to the need for economies of scale when inducting a new aircraft type. "So it's not on the table."

Despite Turkish Airlines' lack of interest, Airbus has had a positive start to the year for its A380 programme. The Iranian government last week said it will buy 12 units for flag-carrier Iran Air, while Japan's All Nippon Airways announced an order for three units earlier in January.

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