ATR
The
Italian-
French based
aircraft manufacturer
Aerei da Trasporto Regionale or
Avions de Transport Régional (
ATR) was formed in 1981, from the consortium formed by
Aérospatiale of France (now
EADS) and
Aeritalia (now
Alenia Aeronautica), of
Italy.
The
ATR 42 and
ATR 72 are the two models of aircraft built by ATR.
American Eagle, the regional airline company of
American Airlines under the
AMR Corporation, refers to its ATR 72s as "The
Super ATRs". These models are twin-
turboprop short-haul
regional airliners. The ATR 42 seats up to 60 passengers, while the ATR 72 seats 74 passengers. Both aircraft are operated by a two person crew.The ATR 42 is the initial version and was announced in 1981, making its maiden flight on
16 August 1984; French and Italian approval (certification) followed in September 1985 and the first revenue earning flight was in December of 1985.
The ATR 72 is the basic ATR 42 stretched by 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) with modified wings, more powerful engines, greater fuel capacity and other increased dimensions compared with the ATR 42. The ATR 72 was announced at the 1985
Paris Air Show and made its maiden flight on
October 27 1988. Exactly one year after that, on
October 27,
1989, commuter airline
Kar Air of
Finland became the first company to put the plane into service.
In April 2000, ATR delivered its 600th ATR, an ATR 72-500 to Air Dolomiti. Customer airlines include
Air Bosna,
Air New Zealand,
Alitalia,
Arkia,
Czech Airlines,
Israir,
JAT Airways,
LOT Polish Airlines,
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA),
Olympic Airlines,
TAROM,
Thai Airways International and
Vietnam Airlines.
Development of a 78-passenger
ATR 82, which would have been powered by two
Rolls-Royce/Allison AE 2100 turboprops, was suspended in early 1996.
*
American Eagle flight 4184* On
August 6,
2005, an ATR 72 heading from
Bari, Italy, on its way to
Djerba,
Tunisia, crashed into the
Mediterranean Sea about 18 miles from the city of
Palermo, during an emergency sea landing, killing 16 of 39 on board. The plane was operated by
Tuninter, an affiliate of
Tunisair, the
national airline of Tunisia. The reason for the crash was engine fuel starvation, a contributing reason was the installation of wrong fuel quantity indicators.
Alenia Aeronautica's manufacturing facilities in Pomigliano near
Naples, Italy, produce the aircraft fuselage and tail sections. Aircraft wings are assembled at EADS Sogerma Services in
Bordeaux in western France for
Airbus France. Final assembly, flight-testing, certification and deliveries are under the responsibility of ATR in
Toulouse, France.
Some of the main fuselage sections for the ATR are produced in China at Shaanxi aerospace facility, Xian.
There are six variants of the ATR 42:
* ATR 42-200
* ATR 42-300
* ATR 42-320
* ATR 42 Cargo
* ATR 42-400
* ATR 42-500
There are four variants of the ATR 72:
* ATR 72-200, the original production version
* ATR 72-210, with uprated engines
* ATR 72-500, originally named the ATR 72-210A, with higher weights and improved airfield performance.
* ATR 52C, the first ATR 72 freighter with a large cargo door. Unveiled at Farnborough 2002.
As of March 2003, 685 ATR 42 have been ordered and 306 ATR 72, totalling 676 orders. Of these orders, 655 have been delivered. There are 109 operators of the ATR range (ATR 42 and ATR 72) in 72 countries.
As of March 2001, the ATR 42 aircraft in use broken down by variant were as follows [
1]:
| Variant | -300 |
-320 |
-500 |
Years of Delivery |
1985-1997 |
1986-1997 |
Since 1995 |
# in Service* |
171 |
104 |
69 |
# on Order |
0 |
0 |
7 |
# of Operators |
47 |
29 |
15 |
Length, m/ft |
22.67/74.4 |
Wingspan, m/ft |
24.57/80.6 |
Engines |
PW120 100% |
PW120 3%, PW121 97% |
PW127E 100% |
MTOW kg/lbs |
16,700/36,817 |
18,600/41,005 |
Range, nm |
875 w/ 48 pax |
No. of Pax |
42/50 |
* One -200 and five -400s have also been delivered. |
ATR has captured a major share of the civil turboprop market in India. ATR aircraft are playing a vital role in expanding operations to smaller Indian towns which previously did not have any regularly scheduled air service. In view of the explosive growth in the Indian civil aviation market, Indian airlines have announced several aggressive ATR aircraft acquisition programs (as of July 2006):
Air Deccan:
Air Deccan was India's first low cost carrier and the first private airline to focus on connecting smaller Indian towns and cities in southern India. It started scheduled services in 2003 with four leased ATR 42-320. On Jan 6, 2005 it announced plans to acquire 30 new ATR 72-500 aircraft and 6 second-hand aircraft (3 ATR 42-500 and 3 ATR 72-500), at this point the airline operated 12 ATR 42's on its network.
Kingfisher Airways:
Kingfisher Airways announced at the 2005 Dubai Air Show that it was placing a firm order for 20 ATR 72-500 aircraft with options for 15 more. The contract was valued at $350 million (list price, excluding options). The first aircraft was delivered in March 30th, 2006. At the 2006 Farnborough Airshow Kingfisher confirmed the 15 additional ATR 72-500 Aircraft options and took options on 20 more in a deal valued at US$270 million (list price).
Jet Airways:
Jet Airways operates 8 ATR 72-500.
Indian:
Indian currently operates 4 ATR-42 aircraft.
ATR 42 specifications are for the ATR 42-500.
* Crew: 2 (pilot + first officer)
* Accommodation:
** ATR 42: 48 typical, 60 maximum
** ATR 72: 74
* Max speed: ATR 72: 275 knots (509 km/h)
* Cruising speed: ATR 42: 556 km/h
* Range:
** ATR 42: 2,965 km
** ATR 72: 910 nautical miles (1,685 km)
* Wingspan:
** ATR 42: 24.57 m
** ATR 72: 27.1 m (88 ft 9 in)
*Wing area: ATR 42: 54.5 m²
* Length:
** ATR 42: 22.67 m
** ATR 72: 27.2 m (89 ft 2 in)
* Height:
** ATR 42: 7.59 m
** ATR 72: 7.7 m (25 ft 2 in)
* Cargo/baggage: ATR 72: 10.6 m³ (375 ft³)
*
Maximum Take-Off Weight:
** ATR 42: 18,700 kg
** ATR 72: 21,500 kg
*Powerplant:
**ATR 42: Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127E (1,790kW) × 2
**ATR 72-210: Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127 (1,850kW) × 2
* Passengers are boarded using the rear door (which is rare for a passenger plane) as the front door is used to load cargo.
* A tail support must be installed when passengers are disembarking and boarding to prevent the nose from rising.
* The consortium has 570 employees. The CEO is Filippo Bagnato.
*
Official site.
