GE Aerospace Inaugurates Türkiye Technology Center in İstanbul Kartal

GE Aerospace inaugurated a new İstanbul location for its Türkiye Technology Center (TTC), building on its five-decade commitment to Turkey's economic development and the growth of its aviation sector. The new campus will house nearly 400 highly skilled GE Aerospace engineers and technicians, deepening GE Aerospace’s existing engineering, innovation, research, and manufacturing capabilities in the country. 

The opening of the new offices in the Kartal district of İstanbul comes two months after GE Aerospace, a world-leading provider of jet engines, components, and systems for commercial and military aircraft, launched as an independent company on April 2, 2024. Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology, and representatives from the Turkish aviation ecosystem attended the opening ceremony. 

“We are among the few countries in the world that produce aircraft engines and have the infrastructure to test all kinds of aircraft engine parts. GE Aerospace is one of the key players in this infrastructure, which we are building in cooperation with the global players of our aerospace industry. GE Aerospace, an important stakeholder in our efforts to develop and produce aircraft engines, has scaled up its operations in Turkey in recent years, believing in our country's qualified human resources, value-added production, and technology development vision," said Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry & Technology.

"GE Aerospace has benefited from our TUBITAK Pre-Specified R&D Laboratories Support Program, which we launched to enable the world's leading companies to carry out their innovative R&D operations in our country. With the Additive Manufacturing Technologies Research Laboratory in TUBITAK MARTEK, we support the development of new technologies and products by bringing together GE Aerospace's know-how in the design and production of additive manufacturing parts and systems with our qualified human resources. Now, we are inaugurating the new GE Aerospace Türkiye Technology Center, which will host research and development activities based on many advanced technologies, including sustainable propulsion. I wish this center, which will bring together approximately 400 research engineers and accelerate innovative work in our country's engine technologies, will be auspicious for our country."

In addition to TTC, GE Aerospace operations in Türkiye include joint venture TEI, a 40-year collaboration with Turkish Aerospace Industries. TEI contributes to GE Aerospace’s global supply chain, manufacturing hundreds of engine components for GE Aerospace and partners*, including turbines and compressors for CFM LEAP, GEnx, and GE9X engines, and prototyping for the CFM RISE (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) program. 

The work done at the TTC benefits global and regional commercial customers, including Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines and SunExpress. Engineers at TTC also support indigenous Turkish defense programs across air and sea, including Turkey's domestic KAAN and Hürjet fighter jet programs. 

“Turkey is a vibrant market in a vital region for us, providing a highly skilled workforce and keeping us close to both commercial and defense customers,” said Mohamed Ali, Vice President and General Manager of Engineering for GE Aerospace. “We are proud to have been in Turkey for many decades, and proud to continue to be a partner now and in the future.”

“Our investment in Türkiye Technology Center reflects our confidence in the Turkish aerospace sector and the exceptional caliber of the teams working here,” said Dr. Aybike Molbay, General Manager of TTC. “The Türkiye Technology Center serves not only as a center of research, development and innovation pursued in collaboration with local partners, it also is a cornerstone of our global work to invent the future of flight, lift people up and bring them home safely – both in Turkey and around the world.”

Established in 2000, TTC has contributed to global engineering work for the GEnx, CFM LEAP, GE9X and Catalyst engines, as well as ongoing technology enhancements to in-service engines. Additionally, engineers are working on aeroderivative technology, developing marine and power engines derived from commercial engines. 

TTC engineers also work in priority areas for the future of flight, through contributions to the CFM RISE program. Led by CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, the RISE program seeks to develop engine technologies that are 20% more fuel efficient with 20% lower carbon emissions than current commercial engines. TTC engineers are helping advance research for Open Fan engine design, compact core, hybrid-electric propulsion, and hydrogen combustion technologies.

On the software side, engineers at TTC support the development and ongoing upgrades of GE Aerospace, Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, deployed by customers worldwide, including its suite of in-flight operations, technical operations, and maintenance and reliability analytics applications.

In addition to the new TTC engineering campus in Kartal, İstanbul, the Türkiye Technology Center includes the following labs in Gebze:

• Additive Research Lab, which supports GE Aerospace’s drive to expand the use of 3D- printed components in aircraft engines.
• Thermofluid Lab, which conducts advanced thermal technology tests as part of new product and ongoing product enhancement.
• Advanced Manufacturing and Repair Shop, which supports process development and optimization, as well as parts prototyping.

GE Aerospace’s TTC facilities in Gebze and the new campus in İstanbul will continue supporting Türkiye’s long-term strategic growth and its ambition to strengthen Turkey's position as a technology and engineering hub for the global aviation industry. 

*Includes CFM International engines. RISE is a registered trademark of CFM International.