Turboprop maker ATR gears up for orders from Korea

This photo shows an ATR 72-600 aircraft at the turboprop maker's assembly line in Toulouse, France, Nov. 7. Yonhap

ATR, a European turboprop maker, is on track to return to pre-COVID-19 production levels, and its plant is gearing up for new orders for its models from Korea, which plans to build three new airports on islands in the coming years.

The number of aircraft assembled in ATR's Toulouse plant plunged to 10 in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began and hammered the global airline industry, from pre-pandemic levels of 70-80 per year. It has rebounded to 40 this year.

ATR now assembles more than 20 turboprop planes at the plant for deliveries to customers, including U.S. logistics firm FedEx; India's largest airline, IndiGo; Togo-based Liz Aviation; and plane-leasing companies.

Some of them were in the final stages of assembly and wrapped with the logos of FedEX or IndiGo, indicating they are major clients of ATR.

"It takes about one year and four months to assemble parts delivered from our suppliers into the finished products, (which are) the ATR 42-600, ATR 72-600 and ATR 72-600F freighter," said Maxime Tisne, head of Delivery Center Quality at ATR.

The ATR 42-600S, a short takeoff and landing (STOL) variant, capable of landing on an 800-meter-long runway, is under development.

ATR receives parts from five tier-1 suppliers. Pratt & Whitney Canada supplies engines, Airbus Atlantic wings, Safran S.A. landing gear, Collins Aerospace propellers and Leonardo structural components.

Of the ATR models, company officials selected the ATR 72-600 as the "most optimal" aircraft for Korean passenger transportation at the island airports.

The ATR 72-600 is certified for up to 78 passenger seats and provides significant benefits compared with competitor aircraft.

If an ATR 72-600 were to fly from Gimpo, located in western Seoul, to the airport being built on Ulleung Island, 341 kilometers east of the capital, it will be able to carry 72 passengers both ways, given the runway length of 1,200 meters, according to the company. The upcoming airport is scheduled to open in 2026.

ATR 72-600 planes are capable of landing on shorter runways, those between 1,000-1,200 meters, it said.

"Moreover, we have a large commonality across the models: pilot training programs, same engine on the smaller and larger versions of the ATR 42 and 72, common flight deck, common cockpit, significant commonality in spare parts ... sharing 90 percent of the spare parts between the different versions of ATR," said Alexis Vidal, senior vice president of commercial at ATR.

This photo shows planes being assembled at ATR's plant in Toulouse, France, Nov. 7. Yonhap

The executive went on to say this is very important when a country like Korea develops regional connectivity, both passenger and freighter as an example, to have commonality in the product lineup.

"That provides a lot of cost savings and flexibility for operations," he said.

ATR sees bigger growth potential in the Asia-Pacific region if it can sell its aircraft models to the Korean market.

In Japan, 20 ATR planes are in operation, as well as 24 in Taiwan, with the numbers expected to rise to 50 and 30, respectively, in the next five years.

In November last year, the Chinese government gave approval to ATR to fly the ATR 42-600, with the number likely to reach 20-30 in the following five years.

"There is no regional aviation in Korea, contrary to Japan, Taiwan and many other countries. We think that the time is coming now in Korea. And the catalyst will probably be the islands," ATR Sales Director Jean-Daniel Kosowski said.

Regional aviation refers to flights below 300 nautical miles, or 555 kilometers, with below 80 seats and less than 1 hour of flight time.

In Korea, there are 11 potential international routes and 18 potential island routes below 300 nautical miles. The east-west domestic routes do not overlap the country's KTX bullet train routes, the director said.

He also expects potential direct cargo flights linking Korea to secondary cities in Japan and China, which would enable next-day e-commerce delivery.

"If you once (find) the ATR aircraft is profitable on short routes, then you can also open routes to neighboring countries like Japan and east-west routes in the country," Kosowski said. (Yonhap)