By KERRY LYNCH • Editor, AIN monthly magazine
After reporting the strongest post-Covid first half with orders for 30 regional turboprops, ATR is expanding its market with a placement of the first ATR 42s with U.S. carrier JSX and selection of the HighLine all-business-class cabin by Air Tahiti for its ATR 72s. These came in addition to last week's 19-aircraft sale to Taiwanese carrier UNI Air.
JSX is leasing a pair of ATR 42-600s that will enter service later this year. The two aircraft, intended to expand its reach into underserved airports across the U.S., will be configured for 30 seats, keeping within its operational parameters as an FAA Part 135 carrier. Offering a per-seat model under U.S. Department of Transportation Part 380 economic authority, JSX operates a fleet of ERJ-135s configured with 30 seats from FBOs in the U.S.
The carrier also signed a letter of intent for potentially up to 25 either HighLine-fitted ATR 42-600s or ATR 72-600s with 30 seats. ATR noted the partnership marks its foray into the U.S. charter market.
ATR chief commercial officer Alexis Vidal added that the sale is in line with its goal to help open up new routes. He also pointed out that the U.S. has lost up to 800 routes in the past couple of decades as regional jets pulled back from more costly operations.
“The ATR-600 series will bring over 1,000 new airports into reach for JSX, expanding access to reliable public charter flights across the great U.S.,” added JSX CEO Alex Wilcox. “Many of these airports were, until now, reserved only for those who had the means to fly private.”
Meanwhile, long-time customer Air Tahiti has opted for ATR’s new sHighLine business class cabin interior for one of its four previously ordered ATR 72-600. Configured with 26 individual business class seats with a one-by-one configuration, the HighLine version will help Air Tahiti launch a VIP service, initially to the islands of Bora Bora and Raiatea.
Designed by Geven for ATR, the Eterea seats will have a width of 21.6 inches, a pitch of 39 inches, and a seven-inch-deep recline. The interior also includes a personal side console, dedicated stowage, USB-A and -C ports, and direct aisle access and window views.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday at the Paris Air Show, Air Tahiti CEO Edouard Wong Fat noted the carrier's 40-year relationship with ATR and said it has enabled it to provide critical service linking distant islands, cutting travel time from days to hours. Its services have been “very traditional,” he added, saying the airline felt something was missing in the value chain.
HighLine will enable it to offer a business-class experience on domestic routes, including with private VIP terminals, he added.
In the days leading up to the Paris Air Show, ATR had secured the UNI Air order for nineteen 72-600s, with purchase rights for three more. This marked the largest order ATR has received since 2017 and is the second from UNI Air since 2011, when it bought 10 ATR 72-600s at the time.
The Taiwanese carrier will take delivery of the aircraft between 2027 and 2032, with 14 of the 19 planned to be replacements for existing ATR 72-600s and the remainder for fleet expansion. The order will modernize the UNI Air fleet with next-generation Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127XT engines, an updated cabin, and a refreshed air management system.
As they announced their latest customer activity, company executives also provided an update on their sales so far this year, detailing that it had already recorded 30 commitments in the first half, including the 19 ATR 72-600s ordered from UNI Air and 11 ATR 72-600s from two undisclosed customers. This pushes the total orderbook to 1,900 aircraft sold since the beginning of its programs.
ATR CEO Nathalie Tarnaud Laud noted the strong start to the year and added, “We have a very strong pipeline,” showing promise for the rest of the year. The 30 coming into midyear compares with 56 for all of 2024, 40 in 2023, and 26 in 2022. She added that plans call for slowly ramping up production, up to 60 aircraft over the next four years, balancing that against supply chain availability.
“This year is also a year of preparing for the future,” Tarnaud Laud said. “We want to ramp up. That's very clear, and that's why we are putting a lot of effort into improving our processes, improving the way we work with our suppliers, to start [the ramp up] in 2026.”
Feeding this drive is ATR’s newly released 20-year turboprop forecast for up to 2,100 aircraft deliveries. ATR anticipates that the first 10 years will primarily focus on aircraft replacement, and the second will be oriented toward growth with fleet and route expansion. In all, ATR anticipates the turboprop fleet to number 2,585, up from the current 1,650.
This latest forecast scaled back from ATR’s 2022 projection for 2,450 new aircraft over the subsequent 20 years, but Vidal noted that the downsized outlook reflected contraction from other turboprop manufacturers rather than its own market.
As for the breakdown, ATR expects the majority of the deliveries—1,690 aircraft—will favor a larger 70-seat model, and that India alone will account for 210 of the sales. Vidal added that India represents its largest growth market. Excluding India, Asia-Pacific will take 835 turboprops.
Reference: AIN