Airbus CEO says may increase production in Turkey

EADS unit Airbus is considering increasing production in Turkey and plans to double its spending in the country from last year's $74 million "very soon", its chief executive Fabrice Bregier said on Wednesday.

"We expect by 2025 we will reach spending of $2.4 billion ... this will make Airbus the biggest partner for Turkish aerospace," Bregier told a news conference in Istanbul.

Airbus Military, which is headquartered in Madrid, produces parts for its A400M military airlifter in Turkey, according to the company's website.

Speaking at a joint press conference to mark the signing of Turkish Airlines' recent order of 117 narrow-body Airbus passenger planes, Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said he was waiting for Airbus to take a step towards producing planes in Turkey.

"We want an extensive agreement from you on producing planes in Turkey and we have the capacity to give you every support and incentive for that," Yildirim said.

(Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; Writing by Nick Tattersall)