In a bit of unwanted news, ATR Aircraft has chosen to halt the development of the ATR742-600S.
The ATR42-600S – Rendering, ATR Aircraft.
The move comes after a market review, along with continuing and lingering issues with the supply chain.
The ATR42-600S would have enabled STOL operations (Short Take-Off and Landings) of with runways from 800 metres or more, with 42 passengers aboard.
With the programme being cancelled, 21 aircraft will now not be delivered to customers – thus deposits and rebooking of orders will now need to be carried out, whilst ATR itself is gaining around 20 orders a year.
ATR argues that the business case for the aircraft has vanished – with the, the number of targeted airports requiring STOL-capable aircraft has significantly decreased, in South East Asia primarily because of runway extensions or the construction of nearby alternative airports. The company notes that trend is mirrored in other key target markets.
Thus, ATR are going to use the released capacity to focus on its current product lines and iterative development, as well as targeting markets that have fleets ripe for replacement – including North America, where smaller regional jets are’t getting younger.
In Quotes
Nathalie Tarnaud Laude, ATR’s Chief Executive Officer, stated:
“As a global leader on the regional market, ATR has a responsibility towards its customers, stakeholders and the industry at large to continuously evaluate its product portfolio to meet market demand. The decision to halt the STOL project reflects our dedication to operational efficiency and long-term sustainability.”
“We are now entering the next phase of growth and improvement where we will focus on further investing in the competitiveness of our market-leading products, the ATR 42-600 and 72-600. Delivering strong value propositions to regional airlines has always been central to our success. This commitment is the reason why our aircraft have remained industry leaders and a trusted choice for our customers over the past 40 years and continues to be our driving force for what lies ahead.”
“As part of this commitment, we have identified a series of product improvements which aim at further reducing the costs of operations and increasing the availability of our aircraft. These improvements directly reflect the needs and insight shared with our customers. To achieve these goals, we are working closely with our key suppliers and have developed comprehensive action plans to drive progress on these enhancements. This step is essential to maintain our competitive edge, as well as our position as a trusted partner to our customers, operators and stakeholders worldwide.”
Disappointing – but not entirely expected
With the ATR42-600S having issues in its development (itself stunted thanks to the pandemic), you only need to look at the order book – with a grand total of 21 aircraft ordered since launch – and that number remaining static for years.
That simply isn’t sustainable in this world, where “number go up” is the rule of law- and without a pipeline of orders (which the other ATR family aircraft can pull in), it would had been a very niche product, inside a niche product.
In most cases, I would strongly suspect that the airlines who have ATR42-600S orders should be able to convert them into regular ATR42-600 aircraft – themselves one of the smaller commercial turboprops out there.
And there is the continued promise of the North American and USA market – which has shyed away from Turboprops for some time (and airlines preferring to use a CRJ550 – just to meet the 50 seat target).
It’s going to take a concerted effort for a Regional Carrier to buckle and show how the turboprop experience is today – compared to past experiences of them in the past.
Hopefully, ATR Aircraft can take the lessons from the ATR42-600S project, and use that knowledge in future aircraft.
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