Air Lease places order for 10 new ATR 72-600s

US-based aircraft lessor Air Lease Corporation has ordered 10 new ATR 72-600 regional turboprop aircraft, and placed options for a further 10. The aircraft are planned for delivery starting in the fourth quarter of 2011. 

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Lease Corporation, says: “We are delighted to order these ATR 72-600s, which will complement our portfolio of narrow and wide-body aircraft. Air Lease has identified a number of opportunities for these aircraft among our existing and future customers. The ATR 72s will enable us to strengthen our regional offering with an aircraft that is a proven success, featuring unrivalled operating costs and good performance on short routes. The ATR has distinguished itself with a wide base of operators and strong residual values which make it a good investment for a lessor”.

Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, says: “We are extremely pleased that a major leasing company with the strength, breadth and reputation of Air Lease is entering the regional market and has selected ATRs for this segment. The ATR turboprop offers a secure position in the segment when compared to regional jets, benefiting airlines and providing investment opportunities for the finance and leasing sectors. Our new partnership with Air Lease will enable us to further show and promote the advantages of the ATRs to many different operators in the world. We are convinced this partnership will bring many success stories to Air Lease and its customers”.

Due to be introduced from 2011, ATR’s ‘600-series’ features and benefits include:

• Best-in-class fuel efficiency and straightforward maintenance, minimizing operating costs
• Outstanding performance, including at small and restricted airfields
• The widest cabin in its class, maximizing space and comfort
• The new ARMONIA cabin, designed by ATR and Italian house Giugiaro Design to be welcoming, attractive and comfortable, and to make travelling a real pleasure
• Class-leading environmental performance
• Low weight, reducing airport and en-route charges
• A new avionics suite featuring the most modern navigation aid tools.

Source: ATR

Nordic Aviation Capital reinforces its partnership with ATR with the acquisition of 7 ATR 42s

Danish regional aircraft leasing specialist Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) and ATR reinforce their relationship with the signature of a contract for the purchase of 7 ATR 42s from the turboprop manufacturer’s portfolio, announced today at the Farnborough Air Show. This marks the fourth agreement between the two companies in less than ten months.

Privately-owned NAC is a world leader in turboprop leasing.  It currently has 137 aircraft on lease to operators worldwide – 82 of which are ATR aircraft, making NAC the largest ATR lessor in the world. 

Martin Moeller, NAC Founder and Chairman of the Board commented: “ATR aircraft have been in our portfolio since the start of our development as a regional aircraft lessor.  Stable values, a strong revival of interest in turboprops and strong market penetration is making the ATR a very popular aircraft in the market today.  We are looking forward to expanding our fleet further with the acquisition of additional aircraft and financing further ATR aircraft deliveries.”

Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR commented:  “ATR and NAC have been growing faster than ever since the turboprop resurgence started in 2005, and this growth has stemmed from our close co-operation. ATR is proud to benefit from the recognition of such a major player in the regional aviation sector and aims to further increase this co-operation in the near future.”   He concluded: “NAC is confirming strong interest of lessors for turboprops, owing to high reliability and a high residual value.”

Source: ATR

Two new ATR 72-500s for Lao Airlines

On the occasion of the Farnborough Air Show, Laos national carrier Lao Airlines and ATR have announced a contract for the purchase of two new ATR 72-500 turboprop aircraft. Lao Airlines is a long-term ATR customer, having operated ATRs successfully since 1994.

ATR will deliver the two new 70-seat ATR 72-500s by the end of 2010, completing the expansion and renewal of the ATR fleet that was commenced last year, with the ATR fleet growing to a total of four ATR 72-500s.

Source: ATR

Brazilian carrier Azul and ATR sign contract for 20 firm and 20 option ATR 72-600

ATR and the Brazilian carrier Azul Linhas Aéreas today inked a contract for the purchase of 20 ATR 72-600s, plus options for 20 additional aircraft. This makes Azul the first airline in Latin America to place an order for the ATR -600 series aircraft. 

The deal, signed and announced on the occasion of the Farnborough Air Show, is worth some US $ 850 million, including options. Deliveries of the new aircraft will commence in late 2011. 

Source: ATR

ATR at the Farnborough Air Show

Static display:

For the first time at Farnborough Air Show, ATR will have an ATR 72-600 on the static aircraft display. The aircraft is equipped with its new avionics suite.

Close to the aircraft, ATR will also show a scale 1 mock up of ARMONIA, the new ‘ATR -600 series’ cabin. Designed in partnership with the Italian House Giugiaro Design, the new ‘-600 series’ cabin is equipped with new wider, lightweight seats, and with new overhead bins enabling 30% more passengers to store their roller bags overhead. As an option –shown in the mock up at Farnborough-, the new cabin features two-class configuration, with first class wider seats (in 2 + 1 19”-seats configuration). 

Source: ATR

ATR and Giugiaro Design unveil partnership for the ATR “600 series” cabin development

Leading regional turboprop manufacturer ATR and world-renowned Italian design house Giugiaro Design today unveiled their partnership for the development of the new ATR ‘-600 series’ cabin, named ARMONIA.

ATR and Giugiaro Design have worked closely together to create an ultra modern, appealing and comfortable cabin. The name ARMONIA is linked to beauty, harmony, balance and calm, themes apparent in the new design.

Giugiaro Design has been involved in many high profile and highly acclaimed car, corporate aircraft, train, ship and motorcycle design projects. The synergic approach established with the ATR engineering team represent an important step forward for both firms. The new ARMONIA cabin marks Giugiaro’s entry into the commercial aviation interior design market, enabling it to use its expertise in creating stylish, practical, ergonomic, efficient and effective designs.

Features and benefits of ATR’s ‘-600 series’ ARMONIA cabin include:

• New wider, lightweight seats – ergonomically designed to ensure greater knee clearance, an enhanced sense of space and increased under-seat capacity.
• 10 % more cabin storage space and 30% more carry-on capacity – up to 70% of passengers will be able to store their roller bags overhead.
• LED lighting – creating a warmer and more welcoming environment, while improving energy efficiency and weighing less than other lighting systems.
• Optional two-class configuration – with first class offering wider seats (in 2+1 seats basic configuration), more space, windows for each row, and large armrest tables.
• Optional jetway-capable forward door – with a new designed spacious entrance area.

Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, says: “Our partnership with Giugiaro Design brings substantial prestige to the ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft. To the many advantages of ATRs in terms of operating costs, performance and environmental friendliness, we are now adding the latest in attractive, comfortable cabin interior design. Thanks to this new partnership, ATR ‘-600 series’ passengers will now experience a totally new level of comfort.”

Fabrizio Giugiaro, Co-Chairman and Styling Director of Giugiaro Design, says: “ATR was just the partner we were looking for to translate the know-how we attained in the car design field into the aviation sector. The project developed for ATR was extremely motivating and challenging: co-operating with such a world leader in the turboprop market meant remarkable, intense and interesting exchange of experiences and inspirations, which we think are key success factors, also for future programs.“

ARMONIA on show

Visitors to the Farnborough International Airshow (19-25 July 2010) will be able to see a full-scale mock-up of the ARMONIA cabin.

ATR’s ‘-600 series’ regional turboprop aircraft are due to enter service from 2011.

Source: ATR

First small size commercial flight in Turkey with Borajet Airline Company

Borajet is the first airline company in regional air transportation in Turkey and launched Turkey’s first turboprop aircraft operator in commercial air transportation from Istanbul to Tokat on 07th May 2010.

ATR 72-500 plane is certified up to 74 passengers seat; however Borajet has reduced the number of passengers seat to 66 for maximum passenger comfort.

Borajet will operate flights to Tokat, Aegean towns of Selcuk and Edremit, southern town of Alanya, Northern Province of Zonguldak, Trabzon, central province of Nevsehir.

Borajet has four ATR 72-500 propeller aircraft at the moment. However, it plans to increase its fleet soon. The fourth ATR 72-500 is expected to be arrived to Istanbul in the beginning of June. After it’s maintenance and painting facilities, it will be ready to join Borajet flight operations

ATR 42-600 starts its flight test campaign

The ATR 42-600 pre-series aircraft successfully took to the sky for the first time today in Toulouse. The aircraft, powered with Pratt & Whitney 127M engines, took off at 3.00 pm (local time) and completed a 2-hour flight, thus starting a flight test campaign of approximately 75 hours. Among other checks, the aircraft underwent tests regarding performance of the engines and well-functioning of its specifically developed new avionics, which integrates the newest computer systems and software for navigational aids, flight data recording, automatic piloting and communications. Pilots also tested hydraulic and electrical systems and blades balancing.

The high degree of commonality between the ATR 72 and the ATR 42 will enable the ATR 42-600 to benefit from certain tests completed by the ATR 72-600, whose 150-hour flight campaign started in July 2009. Both ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 will entry into service in 2011.

Source: ATR

ATR 42-600 starts its flight test campaign

“The first flight of the ATR 42-600 culminates the dedication and strong efforts of our team and our partners in order to prepare this new aircraft for its flight test campaign”, underlined Stéphane Mayer, ATR’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the ATR 42-600, we are proud to develop a new aircraft that has been specifically
designed to optimally match the 50-seat regional market requirements, both in terms of comfort and performance”. He concluded: “It is our aim to propose our customers with aircraft featuring the most advanced technologies and we are convinced that the new ATR ‘-600 series’ programme will strongly contribute to
consolidate our worldwide success and leadership”.

Air Algérie receives the first ATR 72-500 of the 4 ordered in 2009

The national airline Air Algérie took delivery this morning of the first ATR 72-500 of the 4 ordered in 2009. This aircraft was delivered during a ceremony organized in Toulouse.

Air Algérie, which already operated 8 ATR 72-500s, will increase the size of its fleet to 12 with the delivery, during 2010, of the remaining 3 aircraft on order. Consequently, Air Algérie will become the largest ATR operator on the African continent.

These 4 new aircraft, all configured in the 66 seat version, will enable the national airline Air Algérie to propose an optimized service to its passengers, by offering more frequent flights and by opening new routes, in particular to certain regions in the south of the country and to countries in the Mediterranean basin.

ATR will also provide its assistance to Air Algérie for the installation, commissioning and operation of a new flight simulator, which is part of the plans of the airline to open a training center for its pilots in Algeria.

ATR Aircraft deliveries in 2009

Status 2009

ATR booked orders for 40 new aircraft (see figure 1) and options for 17 aircraft in 2009. Europe and Asia, each with orders for 16 aircraft, represented 80% of the total order intakes of the year. In addition, 50% of the orders of the year were booked for the newest ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft (2 ATR 42-600 and 18 ATR 72-600).

Since the beginning of the programme, ATR has sold 1,000 new aircraft (418 ATR 42s and 582 ATR 72s). In the last 5 years, ATR has booked net orders for 316 new aircraft, which represents almost a third of the total orders registered by ATR.

ATR’s current portfolio is composed by 150 operators in over 80 countries.

ATR delivered 54 new aircraft in 2009 (see figure 2). As of December 31st 2009, ATR delivered a total of 864 aircraft (409 ATR 42s and 455 ATR 72s).

ATR finished 2009 with a backlog of 136 aircraft, including a total of 59 ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft. The current backlog represents more than two years of production.

ATR reached a new record in the annual turnover, with US $ 1.4 billion (see figure 3).

In 2009, according to their scheduled development programme, the ATR 72-600 pre-series aircraft started its flight test campaign, while the first ATR 42-600 was powered-on and began its ground tests.

ATR continued in 2009 the reinforcement of its customer support activities and further expanded its presence in Asia with the opening of a new logistic support center in Kuala Lumpur. This new facility enables its operators in the Asia-Pacific region having contracted a Global Maintenance Agreement (GMA) to benefit from increased efficiency and reduced costs. In addition, ATR booked in 2009 new GMAs with 5 operators, covering 41 aircraft. Among these contracts, ATR inked with Spanish carrier Air Nostrum the first GMA for the maintenance of ‘-600 series’ aircraft. Today, 26% of the ATR aircraft in operation –over 200 aircraft- are covered by GMAs.

ATR has a total workforce of 870 employees.

Outlook 2010

ATR plans to consolidate its deliveries over 50 aircraft during 2010, while waiting to get a better overview on the recovery of the economy in order to continue its delivery ramp up. For 2010, ATR points also at the stabilization of its annual turnover, around US $ 1.4 billion. As already done in previous years, ATR will keep on strengthening its activities to assist its clients in order to source the optimal aircraft financing.

According to its development programme, the ATR 72-600 will continue its 150 hours flight test campaign in order to obtain its certification. The ATR 42-600 will start in 2010 its 75 hours flight test campaign, and will benefit from certain tests completed by the ATR 72-600. The production of the first commercial ATR ‘-600s’ will start in 2010, for an entry into service, as planned, in 2011.

In the last five years, turboprops are achieving higher commercial results than jets in the regional market and represented almost 60% of the total orders. The potential for turboprops is high both in growing economies and in regions where turboprops are replacing regional jets or previous turboprop versions. In 2010, ATR focus on consolidating its leading position in the turboprop market, with more than 50% of the total sales.

Concerning the support and services activities, ATR will continue expanding its worldwide support offer in 2010 with the opening of new training facilities, while evaluating further developments of its regional support policy.

WINGS AIR introduces First ATR 72-500s to Indonesia

Indonesia’s WINGS AIR, -a regional subsidiary of the national largest private carrier LION AIR- and ATR today celebrated the introduction of the first three ATR 72-500s to the fast growing Indonesian market. The delivery of these aircraft follows the signature, last year, of a contract for the purchase of 15 ATR 72-500s, plus options for 15 ATR 72-600s, valued at some US $ 600 million, options included.

The introduction of these first three ATR 72-500s was celebrated with a ceremony that took place in Manado, a growing tourism and diving destination, and was officially launched by His Excellency Freddy Numberi, Indonesian Minister of Transportation and SH Sarundajang, Governor of North Sulawesi.

The aircraft, configured with 72 seats and powered with Pratt & Whitney 127M engines, are equipped with a cabin featuring the most modern standards of passenger comfort, as well as with the most updated navigation technologies.

With the introduction of its new fleet of ATR 72-500s, WINGS AIR will consolidate its leading position in the domestic market in Indonesia, develop feeder routes to the main hubs and expand its network to remote areas of the country which where not benefiting from regular airline connectivity in the past.

The ATR 72-500s operated by WINGS AIR will also replace routes currently operated with MD 80 and increase frequencies on existing routes operated with Lion Air B-737-900ER. The remaining 12 firm ATR 72-500s will be progressively introduced in 2010 and 2011.

Source: ATR

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