Originally Posted by
virginblue
Just noted that Stobart is now operating a single ATR42-600 as the two knackered ATR42-320 are gone. What is the reason behind this oddball subtype? Is there any airport in the network that cannot accommodate an ATR72-600 with 48 pax but an ATR42-600 with the same load? Donegal with its 1.500m runway should be able to take an ATR72 and Sligo and Galway are long gone. And conventional wisdom suggests that the operating costs of an ATR72 are not much higher than those of an ATR42 so that it would make sense to sacrifice operational flexibility.
TORA at Donegal is only 1300m due to obstacle clearance, the AT72 can't operate out of there without load restrictions (which it does when the AT46 goes tech).