Alan Dron
Discussions between ATR and Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) to assemble ATR turboprops in India are "progressing fairly well", ATR chief executive officer Antoine Bouvier said at the show yesterday.
He made the comment as Indian carrier Jet Airways announced it is to acquire five ATR 72-500s by spring next year.
Talks between the Franco-Italian group and HAL last year yielded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to coproduce up to 100 ATR 42s in the subcontinent.
They would be produced both for civil use and government agencies such as the Coast Guard and customs authorities.
The main principles of such a deal have been agreed and negotiations on detailed arrangements for HAL to assemble the aircraft are progressing: "I'm quite optimistic we're going in the right direction," says Bouvier.
Operating
The Jet Airways aircraft will be new-builds, which will go to the Aircraft International Renting (AIR) subsidiary of France's TAT Group and Credit Agricole Indosuez; Jet Airways will then take the machines on an operating lease from AIR.
The carrier currently operates a fleet of 25 Boeing 737-400/500/700/800s. Acquisition of the ATR 72-500s, which will be operated in a 64-seat configuration to enable a higher level of in-flight service to be provided, will enable it to move into new routes.
These will include direct connections between city pairs and feeder services into major hubs, although Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal says it does not intend to operate a hub-and-spoke system.
India's need for greatly-increased internal air transport links is well-known, says Goyal: "We are sure that with ATR management and the TAT Group that we will be able to expand into a lot of routes.
"We are looking at operating the aircraft for between 2,800 and 3,000h per year," he adds. He accepts this is an ambitious figure, but similar usage levels are being achieved by US airlines.
"Some of the aircraft will be based in Mumbai, one in Chennai and some in Delhi," says Goyal, who adds that his airline has taken out three options on further ATRs.
Training Jet Airways' personnel on the new aircraft will be handled both by AIR at Toulouse and in-country.
The Indian government has been looking at the Jet Airways deal since last year, to ensure that the carrier can provide the necessary reliability for the aircraft, the first of the type to be operated in India.
Source: Flight Daily News
