ATR, self-identifying as the world’s number one regional aircraft manufacturer, is present at the Singapore Airshow, and in the static park with an ATR 72-600 in the colors of Bangkok Airways.
Visitors are able to experience the Franco-Italian company’s latest technologies for onboard passenger inclusion, such as braille passenger cards and a hearing-aid loop. The company is also demonstrating its ClearVision enhanced vision system (EVS) – a world first in commercial aviation – and its Route Creation Model.
The first deliveries of ClearVision, which offers pilots greater situational awareness in conditions of reduced visibility and the ability to take off and land with reduced minima, were made to Guernsey and Bhutanese airlines Aurigny and Drukair, respectively.
ATR attributes its global success to operational efficiency, as it burns 40% less fuel and emits 40% less CO2 than a regional jet. Its versatility allows it to perform a variety of operations, even on thin routes, such as island-hopping, point-to-point, taking off and landing from short runways, and cargo.
These criteria are particularly relevant for the Asia-Pacific market, says ATR, which is why the aircraft is employed in connecting communities throughout the region.
With e-commerce growing by 19% annually worldwide, regional freighter aircraft will become increasingly important to support economic growth. Converted ATRs currently account for one-third of the global regional freighter fleet, but the first delivery of a straight-from-the-factory freighter is due later this year.
So dominant have the ATR42 and ATR72 become that Embraer Commercial Aviation chief executive John Slattery recently described the manufacturer as having a “de facto” monopoly in the space, to the detriment of DH Canada’s Dash 8. As evidence, he pointed to ATR’s margins being the highest of any aircraft manufacturer.
Slattery wants Embraer to develop a competitor turboprop, but told a conference in Dublin that it would only do so once the sale of Embraer’s commercial activities to Boeing was completed.
The transfer awaits approval by European competition regulators, expected by the middle of this year.
