At a press conference held this morning at the Paris Air Show, Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, announced a record number of orders for the Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer: 78 firm orders and 32 options registered since the beginning of the year. This is the first time in its history that ATR has entered the Paris Air Show with so many orders on the books (previous record: 53 firm orders and 15 options at the 2007 Paris Air Show).

Breakdown of sales as of January 1, 2011:

 

The total of these orders, including the options, is estimated at 2.4 US$ bilion. Nearly 50% of these firm orders were placed by new customers. Filippo Bagnato said: “This historic level of mid-year sales confirms the attractiveness of our planes and bodes well for sales prospects in the future”. Since the beginning, ATR has sold 1,152 aircraft and delivered 929. This brings ATR’s backlog to an historic level: 223 aircraft (worth: 5 US$ billion). This order book translates to more than three years of production.

Regarding the ATR -600 series, he said: “We just certified the new ATR 72-600. With its entry into service shortly, it will become the new reference in regional aviation in terms of advanced technology, comfort and operational and environmental performance. We estimate the demand for turboprop aircraft at more than 3,000 over the next 20 years, while we’ve held 60% of sales on this market since 2005.”

Filippo Bagnato also commented on the renewal and extension in scope of the ISO 14001 environmental certification: “In addition to our sites, we are now green-certified for all stages in the lifecycle of our aircraft. We are proud to be an aircraft manufacturer of reference in terms of environmental friendliness”. As regards the growing interest of aircraft leasing companies, he said: “The significant profitability prospects combined with the potential residual values are the main reasons for lessors’ newfound interest in ATR planes. The strong demand for ATRs, the growing number of operators using our aircraft, and their presence in growing markets are all good arguments for leasing companies. Moreover, out of the aircraft already in operation, the number of ATRs held by lessors has doubled and now represents nearly 20% of our fleet worldwide”.

And to conclude: “We now count over 175 operators and are very pleased to welcome prestigious airlines and players of reference in the world of aviation to the ATR family. Thanks to the interest of our long-time customers and operators, as well as that of new ones, we are going to be able to continue growing. In the medium-term, our goal is to bring ATR to a level of turnover of nearly two billion dollars”.

EADS press release