Updated Planes Will Sport New Engines, Updated Avionics
Despite predictions just a few short
years ago the era of the regional turboprop was coming to an end,
today 'windmill'-equipped airliners continue to proliferate. Hoping
to capitalize on this growing market, on Wednesday European
turboprop aircraft manufacturer ATR announced the launch of the
"-600 series", the newest version of its family of aircraft.
ATR CEO Stephane Mayer tells ANN the new ATR 42-600 and ATR
72-600 will feature the latest technological enhancements while
building upon the advantages of its current aircraft -- namely its
high efficiency, proven dispatch reliability and low fuel burn and
operationing cost.
"The "-600 series" ATRs are the result of our continuous product
improvement strategy in order to meet the demands of the market,"
Mayer said. "The new ATR is vastly different from the earlier
versions of the aircraft, with many innovations and developments
resulting from the operators' experience and the newest available
technologies. These developments allow ATR to provide state-of-the
art technology and environmentally-friendly aircraft with high
reliability, superior comfort, and the lowest cost per seat among
regional aircraft".
The "-600 series" ATR aircraft will be progressively introduced
during the second half of 2010.
Compared to the current "-500 series", the main developments of
the "-600 series" ATRs comprise a new avionics suite, equipped with
upgraded instrumentation. This includes the latest and most
accurate computing systems for navigation, recording, auto- pilot
and communications.
A true "Glass Cockpit" -- with five wide LCD screens -- will
replace the current EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrumental System).
In addition, a multi purpose computer (MPC) will further enhance
Flight Safety and operational capabilities. The new avionics will
also provide CAT III and RNP capabilities. All these main
improvements will provide advantages and performance improvements
in terms of weight reduction, reliability, energy consumption and
durability.
ATR -600s will also include the new PW 127 M turbine as the
standard powerplant. This enhanced version of the ATR engine will
allow an increased power rating for the ATR 72-600, that will
provide improved performance for hot and high conditions.
Compared to the current optional Design Weights, the new ATR
72-600 will also allow a standard weight increase of 661 lbs. on
MTOW (Maximum Take Off Weight) and MZFW (Max Zero Fuel Weight),
plus optional weight increases of an additional 441 lbs. This will
improve the payload and performance to cope with increasing demands
of passenger weights and baggage.
As for passengers, the -600 series will include all existing and
future cabin improvements developed by ATR, including the latest in
Light Emitting Diode lighting inside the cabin. LEDs will also be
used or external navigation and anti-collision lighting in order to
further reduce costs and increase life span.
"The '-600 series' underlines the strong "family concept" of
ATR, with two aircraft that are extremely similar, providing common
airframe, common engines, common cockpit and the same pilot type
rating. The compromise between simplicity and effectiveness of the
design is one of our key goals," Mayer said.
"The next 10 years forecast for the turboprop market is for a
requirement of over 1,400 aircraft. This provides a solid basis for
ATR to continue its investment in improvement and developing our
very successful product," he added.