Turboprop manufacturer ATR is extending the C-Check intervals on its aircraft by an additional 1,000 hours, increasing the time between checks to 5,000 from 4,000 hours.
The European airframer says the advance, which follows many hours of data analysis, will cut ground time and lower maintenance costs for ATR operators.
ATR MRO and maintenance economics director Jacques Soubsol says: "This change is going to have a significant economic impact for operators. We calculate that airlines will achieve an overall saving of 17% on their C-Check direct maintenance costs."
After eight years' feedback from 4,000-hours C-Checks, and at the request of its customers, ATR decided to collate data on an ad hoc basis from hundreds of checks from several operators worldwide.
ATR maintenance engineering executive Nadege Gualina says: "This campaign involved more than two years of hard work. The results from C-Checks were particularly good across all ATR models."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
