Exclusive: Turkey’s Wealth Fund in talks to support hard-hit Turkish Airlines – sources

By Ebru Tuncay, Birsen Altayli and Orhan Coskun

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s Wealth Fund is in talks to provide emergency funding to flag carrier Turkish Airlines , one of the country’s hardest-hit companies when the coronavirus pandemic halted nearly all flights, four sources told Reuters.

The sources close to the matter said the company, which flies to more destinations worldwide than any other airline, could receive capital or financing support as part of the programme, though nothing had yet been finalised.

It was unclear how much funding the sovereign wealth fund (TVF) could make available in what one source called a “bailout”. TVF declined to comment on the matter, while Turkish Airlines did not immediately comment.

($1 = 7.7695 liras)

(Reporting by Ebru Tuncay, Birsen Altayli and Orhan Coskun; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Elaine Hardcastle)