In the same month of celebrating the company’s 40th anniversary, ATR crossed another important milestone in its development history: the delivery of ATR’s 1,600th aircraft to the New Zealand flag carrier Air New Zealand. This delivery demonstrates the long-term vitality of the ATR model project and provides essential basic aviation connections to all parts of the world. It also proves the important value of ATR 72-600 on New Zealand domestic routes. The aircraft delivered this time is the last of the 29 ATR aircraft ordered by Air New Zealand.
about 25 years ago, with the delivery of the first-generation ATR, ATR established a cooperative relationship with Air New Zealand. In the past 10 years, ATR has successively delivered 29 -600 aircraft to Air New Zealand, and the two sides have launched an important cooperation aimed at improving the approach capabilities of ATR aircraft, and the relationship has become closer.
The ATR aircraft is capable of operating RNP AR 0.3/0.3, which is part of the latest standard 3 avionics components, which can improve the accuracy of Air New Zealand’s approach at Queenstown Airport, provide reliable route connections for the local area, and drive the development ofthe ice and snow sports economy!
Sustainability is also the focus of airlines and manufacturers: the ATR 72-600 seleced by Air New Zealand has reduced fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by 40% compared to other regional jets. As there is an important consensus on improving aviation's ecological benefits, in 2018, the two parties pledged to jointly explore the future regional aviation ecosystem including hybrid aircraft.
Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran said: "Air New Zealand is looking forward to the addition of ATR’s 1,600th aircraft to the fleet. We attach great importance to the long-term partnership with ATR, which has been in service since 2012. The 29th ATR aircraft. During this period, the ATR fleet expanded Air New Zealand’s regional network by more than 50% and maintained a very high efficiency. The ATR aircraft helped us build one of the best domestic networks in the world. Performed more than 636,000 flights in New Zealand and carried approximately 33.5 million passengers."
Stefano Bortoli, CEO of ATR, said: “Of course we are proud of this. Today’s achievements are inseparable fro the hard work of every ATR employee. ATR has just celebrated the company’s 40 years of driving innovation and is now also looking back on how ATR supports it. Good opportunities for New Zealand cities: ATR flights allow passengers to visit business, study or visit relatives. A type of aircraft must be efficient and versatile to flourish in New Zealand, so creating a turboprop fleet is very meaningful. Today New Zealand has Many ATRs, but considering the cooperation between the two parties on RNP AR 0.3/0.3 technology, it can also be said that many ATR aircraft also have important contributions from New Zealand-operators around the world can benefit from this product innovation."
