Article Posted on : - Dec 18, 2008

ATR begins ground tests of new 600 series. Official photo

LONDON (BNS): Popular turbo-prop aircraft maker ATR has started ground tests of its new 600 series aircraft.

Several new processes like electric systems and equipment of the New Generation Avionics Suite have been tested. The integration of first software package provided by Thales – the company dealing with information systems for aerospace, defence and security markets, has also been tested.

Luigi Lombardi, ATR SVP Operations, said in a statement: "We are proud of starting the ground test of the aircraft, which represent the result of a very strong work done in the last months, in partnership with Thales. We congratulate our teams, which are working round the clock."

The company expressed satisfaction with the ground trials as all the systems performed as desired. Alain Bourisier, Vice President of Thales in-charge of regional and business aircraft, said: "We are proud to have delivered the systems required to ATR and to have contributed to the success of the power-on of the ATR-600 series. The development of this new generation avionics suite represents a key improvement of the new aircraft. It will provide clear benefits to the airlines by substantially improving the navigation capabilities and the performance of the aircraft, while reducing operating and maintenance costs."

The first flight of 600 series, configured as ATR 72, will take place in the summer of 2009, the company said. It is expected to be ready to join the ATR aircraft family by 2011.

ATR's new aircraft ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 would be equipped with the most modern avionics suite. They will have new PW 127 M engines and additional 300 kg of Maximum Take-off weight and Maximum Zero Fuel Weight. It would be a marked improvement on the current 500 series operating around the world.

It would have the lowest fuel consumption per passenger and CO2 emissions, claimed the company .

ATR is popular among airlines operating in regional routes. The aircraft is cost effective as its operational cost is much less than jet variants. Most of the airlines prefer flying turbo-props on short haul routes. Efforts were being made to make the aircraft quieter for the comfort of passengers. Turbo-props generally produce a lot of cabin noise.

A number of leading Indian airlines also use ATR for regional routes.