Airbus and Turkey's TAI sign agreement on A350 partnership

The companies said in a statement that 400 people would be employed directly as a result of the accord, while 1,200 people would gain indirect employment. Tusas Chief Executive Atalay Efeer said this would be the first big-scale aircraft production program for Tusas in the civil aviation industry. He added the mid-sized long-range A350 has already had 4,060 orders as of November. "The Airbus A350 is a new type of a commercial airliner. The first flight of the plane is scheduled in 2012," Efeer said in a speech at the ceremony held in Ankara.Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Industry Minister Zafer Caglayan as well as Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul joined high-level officials from both Airbush and TAI in the ceremony.Erdogan said TAI has produced almost 300 F-16 warjets so far. "Our aim is developing genuine products in the air industry... A Turkish company's maturity to take responsibility in a A350 starting from its design, shows the point we have reached in this sector," Erdogan added