ATR 72-600

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has placed an order with Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) for up to 36 ATR 72-600s, in deal worth more than $840m.

This includes a firm order for 20 ATR 72-600 and options for an additional 16 aeroplanes.

This order is follow-up of the memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies in December 2012.

The deliveries from this order are scheduled to start by mid-2013.

MAS’s total firm order for ATR 72s has now reached 42 since the the first purchase deal was signed in 2007.

Commenting on the deal, Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari said that the company has been partnering with ATR for the last five years, and was satisfied with the performance and the commercial results.

"The ATR aircraft are clearly playing an important role in the development of Malaysia Airlines, as they connect regional destinations and enable us to feed larger aircraft at our main hubs," Jauhari said.

The introduction of the aircraft from the latest deal will help the airline to deal with the booming Malaysian and regional markets.

"The ATR aircraft are clearly playing an important role in the development of Malaysia Airlines, as they connect regional destinations and enable us to feed larger aircraft at our main hubs.”

According to the plane manufacturer, its new ATR 72-600 jet will provide passenger comfort, feature an Armonia cabin and will have new slim-line seats, larger overhead bins and LED lighting.

ATR CEO Filippo Bagnato said: "We are delighted to be an active part of Malaysia Airlines’ development of the regional connectivity in Eastern and Western Malaysia."

The ATR 72-600 aircraft has a capacity to seat 68 to 74 passengers, features Pratt & Whitney Canada PW 127M engine, has maximum
range with full passenger load of 1,665km.

Malaysia Airlines presently has 22 ATR 72-500s, which are operated by regional subisidiaries Firefly and MASwings.

The carrier also has a fleet of more than 100 medium and long-haul aircraft such as A330s, A380s, B737s, B747s and B777s.

Malaysia Airlines has become one of the first operators to use ATR’s recently opened training centre for 600 series aircraft in Singapore.


Image: The aircraft from the latest order will be operated by Malaysia Airlines’ regional subsidiaries MASwings and Firefly. Photo: courtesy of ATR Aircraft.

Defence Technology