At Air Tractor Europe we are proud to announce the agreement reached with the Turkish government to supply them with 20 Air Tractor AT-802 aircraft. The objective of this purchase is to continue improving its capacity to fight fires. Of the 20 aircraft, 15 are in the Fire Boss configuration and 5 in the land version.
Turkey is a high-risk area for forest fires due to its long summers, low humidity, high temperatures, and strong winds. In the summer of 2021, the impact of the forest fires was very high, more than 250,000 hectares were burned, there were a high number of victims and considerable economic damage.
In 2022, Titan Firefighting Company, a Spanish company with extensive experience in fighting forest fires through the use of AT-802 aircraft, joined the firefighting team. The incorporation of this company helped reduce the area burned in that year to 15,000 hectares. The key to success has been in the speed and efficiency in the operations carried out through the AT-802 and a high level of preparation and organization. This allowed many fires to be extinguished in the first hours of the fire, something that is essential to ensure that the fires do not get out of control and become unapproachable. In addition, this increase and improvement of the firefighting equipment allowed them to collaborate in firefighting by sending planes to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Georgia, two international operations in which great success was achieved.
The evaluation of the improvements achieved with the incorporation of the Air Tractor AT-802 are what has prompted the Turkish government to purchase these 20 aircraft. The purchase contract establishes the incorporation of 4 aircraft per year, with the expectation that by 2027 Turkey will have a complete fleet of its own aircraft to fight fires.
At Air Tractor Europe we are proud of the work carried out and the commitment acquired, both in the provision of aircraft and training and education, as well as in their maintenance, spare parts and technical support at the place of operation.
We thank Turkey for its confidence in Air Tractor Europe.
