The European manufacturer of turboprop aircraft ATR, Indonesia’s national airline Garuda Indonesia and the Danish leasing firm Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) are pleased to announce an agreement for the introduction of 35 new ATR 72-600 aircraft into Garuda’s fleet. This new deal for 35 ATRs, involving NAC as lessor for Garuda, includes orders for 25 firm aircraft and options for further 10. The order, including the options, is valued at over US$ 840 million.

The arrival of these new ATR 72-600s will start in November 2013. The aircraft will be configured with 70 seats, and will feature the “Armonia” cabin, giving the ATR ‘-600s’ the highest standards of comfort in a regional aircraft. The aircraft will be used for the development of both tourism and business throughout the Indonesian archipelago as well as to feed Garuda Indonesia’s main hubs.

This agreement confirms ATR’s success in the countries of Southeast Asia, where since 2005 it has won a large majority of contracts for regional aircraft below 90 seats, with orders for some 170 aircraft region-wide. ATR’s success in the region is particularly strong in the Indonesian market, for which it has received orders for over 85 firm aircraft since 2008, and where some one hundred ATRs will be in operation within the next two years. It clearly illustrates the strong domestic traffic development that Indonesia is living and the appropriate solution offered by ATR to fulfil this growth.

This new deal for 35 ATR 72-600s also underlines NAC’s role as a key player in the regional aircraft leasing business. The Danish lessor is substantially building up its portfolio with modern ATR turboprops and recently placed a record order for 90 ATR -600s, at this year’s Paris Airshow. NAC is playing a major contribution in both developing and expanding regional aviation operations all over the world. In the near future, with the arrival of these new aircraft, NAC will manage a fleet of some 150 ATRs.

With regard to this announcement, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Garuda Indonesia, Emirsyah Satar, said that the signing agreement is part of the airline’s “Quantum Leap 2011-2015” transformation and expansion program, especially to broaden and strengthen Garuda’s flight network domestically, while at the same time enhance service to the customers by offering a wider choice of destinations and travel options. He added: “We are very happy to be developing our regional business with ATR 72-600s, the aircraft which stand out as one of the best choice for short-haul flights and operations between the various islands of Indonesia. In deploying our airline, we need aircraft offering the latest in technology and comfort for our customers. ATR 72-600s provide the perfect combination of most modern technologies and lowest operating costs for regional networks.”

The company’s unflagging efforts to develop its network of destinations and improve service quality is part of the airline’s move to join the SkyTeam global alliance in March 2014 and in anticipation of 2015’s ASEAN Open Sky policy. Moreover, as a flag carrier, Garuda is committed to increasing national connectivity in accordance with the Masterplan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development program.

Martin Møller, Chairman of NAC, declared: “We are pleased to further expand our business both with Garuda and ATR and to contribute to deploy optimal regional air connectivity across Indonesia. South East Asia is definitely providing us with huge leasing potential and the ATR 72-600s perfectly match the requirements for short-haul travel in terms of low operating costs, comfort and ability to operate in small airfields and remote areas”.

Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, said: “We are honoured by the fact that Garuda Indonesia is selecting ATR aircraft to expand their regional business and we are pleased to further consolidate our partnership with NAC, which has been instrumental in cementing this deal. This agreement highlights the strong commercial success of the ATR 72-600 in Asia, where it has become the new benchmark for the development of regional air connectivity”. He also reaffirmed that “the deployment of the ATR customer support offer in Southeast Asia is a major component of our success and we will continue investing to support and further develop this growing region”.