As market interest in a larger turboprop airliner gathers pace, ATR concedes that a move by rival Bombardier could force it to examine a larger derivative of its 50-70-seat family, despite its preferred option being an all-new aircraft.
Speaking in Paris last week at its annual briefing, where record sales for 2007 were announced, company chief executive Stephane Mayer conceded: "Some customers are asking for a larger aircraft."
Although Mayer says it is too early to say what the size or specification of the aircraft would be, head of sales John Moore says the company is "more focused on developing an all-new aircraft that would provide a step in performance" rather than a stretch of the ATR 72.
But Moore adds that ATR would "have to be able to respond to our competitor - if one of us makes the decision to go into the 90-seat market, the other has to look at it in a whole different light".
Bombardier has long been proposing a 90-seat stretch of its 78-seat Q400, dubbed the Q400X, which, if launched, could enter service early in the next decade. ATR is studying an all-new successor to its existing family from the middle of the next decade.
Moore, who all but rules out a dual response with stretch and all-new model, says ATR would have to "weigh up the market for a stretch versus an all-new model".
He says initial discussions are under way with ATR's existing supplier Pratt & Whitney Canada as well as Rolls-Royce about a new engine, with the target likely to be around a 15% improvement in efficiency. The airframer "has not ruled out" other engine makers from its evaluation, says Moore.
Meanwhile, although ATR booked a record 113 new orders in 2007, none was for the improved -600 models it launched last year. Moore says he hopes the first customers will be secured by mid-2008, adding: "We have a number of new prospects for the -600, and are also talking to customers with existing -500 orders about switching to the new model."
Deliveries of the ATR -600 family are due to begin in late 2010, and production of the -500 is planned to wind down in 2011. ATR delivered a total of 44 aircraft last year, up from 24 in 2006, increasing revenues from $700 million to $1.1 billion. The ATR 2007 year-end order backlog grew more than 57% to 195 aircraft.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
