Country of origin:

France and Italy

Description:

Commercial airliner

Power Plant:

Two 1,611 kw (2,160 hp) Pratt & Whitney Canada PW124B turboprops

Specifications:

History:

Following the success of the ATR-42, development proceeded to the ATR-72, which was launched in January 1986. The first of three ATR-72 development aircraft flew on 27 October 1988 and certification was received the following year. Significant differences between the ATR-72 and the smaller ATR-42 included a 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) fuselage stretch, re-design of the wings, the outer wing sections being new, 30 per cent of it being made up of composite materials, comprising composite spars and skin panels, and a carbon fibre wing box. New engine nacelles were also designed.

A number of developments of the ATR-72 were offered, including the ATR-72-210, ATR-72-210A and ATR-72-52C. The ATR-72-210A (also known as the ATR-72-500) was fitted with PW127F engines driving six-blade composite propellers. The ATR-72-52C was aimed at the military market and, if launched, was to be fitted with a rear loading ramp. A variant known as the Petrel 72 was offered for maritime surveillance.

Air New Zealand Link / Mount Cook Airlines in 1995 took delivery of seven ATR-72-212s and these were registered ZK-MCC (c/n 464), ZK-MCL (c/n 465), ZK-MCQ (453), ZK-MCS (c/n 454), ZK-MCW (c/n 458), ZK-MCX (c/n 460), and ZK-MCY (c/n 463). In 1999 it was announced these were being traded in on the newer, larger and more powerful ATR-72-500, these being registered as the ATR-72-212A variant, the first of these being delivered before Christmas 1999, registrations allotted to this series being ZK-MCA (c/n 597), ZK-MCB (c/n 598), ZK-MCC² (c/n 714), ZK-MCF (c/n 600), ZK-MCJ (c/n 624), ZK-MCO (c/n 628), ZK-MCP (c/n 630), and ZK-MCU (c/n 632), the fleet later increasing to ten with ZK-MCW² (c/n 646), ZK-MCX² (c/n 687) and ZK-MCY² (c/n 703).

In August 2002 Origin Pacific Airways of New Zealand took delivery of two ATR-72-212s for its routes, the first two aircraft (c/n 379 – ex D-ACCC, N69901; and c/n 385 – ex D-ADDD, N69902) having been originally built for Continental Express in 1993, later going to Schroder Aircraft Leasing in Germany. These aircraft became ZK-JSY (c/n 379) and ZK-JSZ (c/n 385), the latter aircraft later being operated by Air New Zealand Link/Mt Cook but in January 2006 being returned to its German owners.

Development of the series continued, leading to the ATR 72-600, this model being launched on 2 October 2007. Featuring the latest technological developments, this model had the new Pratt & Whitney PW-127M engine, a glass cockpit flight deck featuring five LCD screens, a multi-purpose computer and enhanced flight safety and operational capabilities. First customer was Caribbean Airlines.

In March 2011 Virgin Airlines in Australia announced it was replacing its Embraer ERJ-170 aircraft with ATR-72-500s (registered as ATR-72-212A) for use on some of its routes by Skywest, these aircraft commencing to arrive in 2011, becoming VH-FVH (c/n 954 – ex F-WWEG) on 11 August 2011; VH-FVI (c/n 955 – ex F-WWEI) on 12 August 2011; VH-FVL (c/n 974 – ex F-WWES) on 14 September 2011 and VH-FVM (c/n 979) on 21 November 2011, all registered to Skywest Airlines (Australia) and operated on behalf of Virgin Australia.

In December 2011 it was announced Virgin would obtain a further five aircraft and further examples of the ATR-72-500 series registered have included VH-FVU (c/n 978), VH-FVX (c/n 986), VH-FVN (c/n 1039), VH-FVP (c/n 1025), VH-FVQ (c/n 1053), VH-FVR (c/n 1058), VH-FVY (c/n 1073), VH-VPI (c/n 1107) and VH-VPJ (c/n 1169).

In November 2011 Air New Zealand announced it was ordering up to 12 new ATR-72-600s for use on regional routes from late 2012, initially buying seven and taking purchase options on a further five, the first being delivered in October 2012. At that stage the company already operated ATR-72-500s. The ATR-72-600s were configured to seat 68 in New Zealand service.

The type has also been operated in the South Pacific by Fiji Link, a domestic and regional subsidiary of Fiji Airways, this company obtaining the ATR-72-600 to operate on routes to Nadi, Suva and Labasa.

The type has also been placed in service with Airlines of Papua New Guinea of Goroka, examples including P2-ATA (c/n 1301 – ex F-WWEG) in December 2015 and P2-ATB (c/n 1317 ex F-WWEX) in July 2016.

In late 2015 Air New Zealand announced it had ordered an additional 15 examples of the ATR-72-600, 11 of these to replace the airline’s ATR-72-500 fleet, and a further four to enable expansion within New Zealand. The first seven aircraft were to be delivered between December 2015 and mid-2016. By the time the order was fulfilled the airline’s fleet included a total of 29 ATRs.

In late 2015 Air Niugini took delivery of its first ATR-72-600 P2-ATR, stating it had ordered six more examples as part of a firm order and had taken 14 options, these aircraft replacing DHC-6 Twin Otters which had already been retired, giving the airline an opportunity to retire the remaining de Havilland Dash-8s still in service. Further examples arrived in 2017, becoming P2-ATC (c/n 1347) and P2-ATD (c/n 1373)  with PNG Air.

In 2016 Virgin Australia announced it was withdrawing between four and six examples of the ATR-72 over the following three years.