08 June 2016

The ATR factor



Air New Zealand has taken delivery of the 12th aircraft in a planned fleet of 29 new ATR planes aimed at boosting its regional network. The newly built 68-seat ATR72-600 was handed over during a ceremony on the outskirts of the city of Toulouse, in south-west France last week. The airline's 13th aircraft in the series stood alongside – almost ready to be handed over as well. After accepting the new plane from ATR senior vice-president operations Thierry Casale, Air NZ regional airlines general manager Sarah Williamson said it was expected to be 2020 when Air NZ took delivery of the 29th planned new ATR72-600, which was set to make the airline the owner of the third largest ATR fleet in the world. No.1 is Lion Air in Indonesia, followed by Denmark-based Nordic Aviation Capital.  "We're very pleased to take delivery of our 12th aircraft," Williamson said. "We look forward to a long and ongoing association with ATR." The additional aircraft for Air NZ's regional services meant "more seats for customers and certainly more seats at the lead-in fares". Williamson said the typical sector in New Zealand was about an hour long, which was well suited to a turboprop – an aircraft with a turbine engine that drives propellers. ATR's 68-seat aircraft was "excellent" for Air NZ's needs "and we like the way ATR have worked hard on green credentials so that the aircraft is very efficient in terms of fuel, which means it burns less CO2". Air NZ subsidiary Mt Cook Airline operates the ATR aircraft. Its head, former pilot Andrew Ward, said the ATR72-600 was a high-spec turboprop. In an upgrade of the ATR72-500, the 600 version also had a "full glass cockpit" featuring five screens of digital flight instrument displays as well as electronic maps and charts that were usually available only in the larger Airbus aircraft, Ward said. In November, Air NZ announced it would buy 15 ATR72-600 aircraft. At list prices, the 15 new aircraft were collectively valued at $US375 million ($550m). Eleven of the aircraft were to replace the national carrier's ATR72-500 planes while the other four would help increase capacity on its growing regional network. The move to buy 15 new ATR 600s came after the company in 2012 announced its investment in an initial 14 ATR72-600 aircraft. Williamson said the ATR72-500 aircraft would be sold. It follows a decision by Air NZ to phase out its 19-seat Beech 1900D aircraft – the smallest in its fleet. The Beech aircraft would also be sold, Williamson said. Air NZ had also spent $1m refurbishing the interiors of its 23 Bombardier Q300s, which would continue to fly routes on its regional network, including Nelson-Wellington and Nelson-Christchurch. In the 2016 financial year, Air NZ was on track to operate 5.9 million seats into and out of regional centres, a spokeswoman said. It had also offered more than 100,000 fares for less than $50 on its regional network. "In FY17, we will further increase regional capacity by approximately 3 per cent," she said. "Increasing capacity results in even more low-priced fares as we have to build and further stimulate the demand required to fill these extra seats." The multimillion-dollar investment in the ATR aircraft comes as competitors, such as Jetstar, boost their domestic routes. Based on the outskirts of Toulouse, ATR is a joint partnership between Airbus and Finmeccanica, two major European aeronautics companies. Established in 1981, ATR had a turnover of $US2 billion in 2015.


10 comments:

  1. I am still of the opinion that Air NZ is planning to replace the Q300's with either ATR42-600's or a mixture of additional ATR72-600's and ATR42-600's, as Air NZ would be getting a fleet discount, especially if Mt Cook Airlines is going to be the 3rd largest ATR operator in the world.

    Air NZ regional route restructuring is in essence a prelude to one aircraft type/manufacture policy.

    It would make economic sense for all regional services to operated by one aircraft manufacture, similar to Air NZ domestic jet services.

    The first Q300 was introduced late 2004, so their replace ment decision is looming quickly, if Air NZ wants to get a price for them, considering that Q300's are out of production.

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  2. The metrics for the 42 just don't make sense, less passengers for the same fuel burn. Yes they fly faster than a 72, but the average sector length is so small, the additional speed isn't noticeable.

    Places with short runways such as whangarei would still be limited with a 42, thanks to its short wings. The 72 would be restricted but would carry at least as many people as the 42 would full, and allow for flexibility on deploying it on different routes as required. All while costing less to run per hour.

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    1. True, a shame because the 42 is a hot little machine.

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    2. If pilots will enjoy flying it, the accountants won't sign the cheque for them.

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    3. So you are saying that Air NZ would be replacing the aging Q300's with ATR72's?

      There are really no other aircraft type alternative in the 50 seater market other than ATR42.

      I don't see Air NZ number crunchers buying at new aircraft type complete with spares and maintenance support when the ATR42's and 72's have common spares and maintenance support and operational capability.

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    4. Add to that the fact that more frequent services with smaller planes always works better than bigger planes with less frequency.

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    5. More frequency with smaller planes works better for the people who travel, but the NZ travelling public have shown that they aren't prepared to pay the price for such a luxury. They are concerned with the price to the detriment of frequency. And this can be seen throughout the regional network

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  3. The 750xls that you took photos of Steve were on tv3 news this evening

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  4. Did she really say 'it burns less CO2'?!?

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    1. She doesn't appear at all aviation minded, I've seen her talk a few times.. One of those types with zero aviation backgrounds.

      Saw this interview she definitely said that, I remember thinking.... What...

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