Uncle Jestar
26th Mar 2007, 01:49
Local office and support pays off in sales for ATRS
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
March 23, 2007
THE decision of ATRS to open an office in Sydney appears to be paying off after it this week announced an order for three more of its sleek turboprop airliners from a second Australian customer.
Queensland-based Jetcraft announced at the Australian International Airshow that it would shortly take delivery of three ATR 42-320s to support its growing fly-in/fly-out fleet and contract charter division.
The new order joins an ATR-500 due to be delivered to Queensland's ****** soon.
ATR commercial senior vice-president John Moore said the order backed up the manufacturer's view that there was potential in Australia, and vindicated its decision last year to establish the office and post sales director Laurent Negre to Sydney.
"It's very hard to be successful here when you're doing it from 10,000km away," Mr Moore said.
"There is a market for our aircraft here, but it's difficult for operators to be the first, and the fact that we've shown our willingness to make this investment and have a presence here, and provide support, helps them make the decision."
Australia had been a blank spot on the ATR map, despite an otherwise strong Asia-Pacific presence.
The company has about 30 aircraft operating in the South Pacific with airlines ranging from Air Caledonie and Fiji's Air Pacific to New Zealand's Mt Cook Airlines.
Globally, its customer base has grown from about 80 airlines in 2000 to 126 today and it has delivered more than 700 aircraft.
The Australian sales had come faster than expected, Mr Moore said, and interest would rise further once the ATRs started operating here - as had happened in other parts of the world.
"I'm quite bullish," he said. "A new market takes time to develop, particularly with new aircraft."
The European manufacturer expects to sell 20 aircraft into Australia in the next five years, and its first two customers are enthusiastic converts.
****** general manager Kevin Gill said the airline chose the ATR 42-500 after an evaluation of the 50-seat market.
The airline had been particularly impressed by the aircraft's unparalleled 99.6 per cent reliability.
"That has great appeal to our customers who, particularly in the mining industry, want to get their people to and from work on time."
****** had involved its customers in the selection process and had an aircraft for a demonstration flight, Mr Gill said.
"We then talked to them about how it fitted their needs for comfort, flying and operating in hot weather, the long sectors where payload is compromised and that sort of thing.
"That was part of our evaluation process and they also responded very favourably."
Other factors that swayed ****** included the aircraft's big cabin, its airconditioning system's handling of heat, and the fact it was a well-supported production aircraft with a local office and a spare parts centre in Auckland.
Jetcraft chief executive Danny Foster said the ATR 42-320 was ideally suited to Australian charter operations, allowing them to carry 46 passengers from unpaved mine-site airstrips in extremely hot conditions.
Mr Foster also cited product support, reliability, efficiency and passenger comfort as reasons for buying the aircraft.
Does anybody out there know any more about this company and where the ATR's will be used? The only hint is that they recently advertised for ATR rated engineers for an Adelaide basing. Alliance have also been sniffing around abet lately with the SA government and haven't they ordered F50's. Oh I wish we had a resource boom here in good ol Vic, but that is not going to happen, is it!? :uhoh: It is also interesting that Australia's most profitable airline by relative size is now the only company to be not investing in larger aircraft. My friends in REX tell me that a 50-70 seater good be very useful on some routes. With almost daily vacancies coming up internally here at J*, and a huge number of new recruits required, I wonder once again, where will the experienced crew come from to fly these ATR's, F50's, A320's, etc??
:ok:
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
March 23, 2007
THE decision of ATRS to open an office in Sydney appears to be paying off after it this week announced an order for three more of its sleek turboprop airliners from a second Australian customer.
Queensland-based Jetcraft announced at the Australian International Airshow that it would shortly take delivery of three ATR 42-320s to support its growing fly-in/fly-out fleet and contract charter division.
The new order joins an ATR-500 due to be delivered to Queensland's ****** soon.
ATR commercial senior vice-president John Moore said the order backed up the manufacturer's view that there was potential in Australia, and vindicated its decision last year to establish the office and post sales director Laurent Negre to Sydney.
"It's very hard to be successful here when you're doing it from 10,000km away," Mr Moore said.
"There is a market for our aircraft here, but it's difficult for operators to be the first, and the fact that we've shown our willingness to make this investment and have a presence here, and provide support, helps them make the decision."
Australia had been a blank spot on the ATR map, despite an otherwise strong Asia-Pacific presence.
The company has about 30 aircraft operating in the South Pacific with airlines ranging from Air Caledonie and Fiji's Air Pacific to New Zealand's Mt Cook Airlines.
Globally, its customer base has grown from about 80 airlines in 2000 to 126 today and it has delivered more than 700 aircraft.
The Australian sales had come faster than expected, Mr Moore said, and interest would rise further once the ATRs started operating here - as had happened in other parts of the world.
"I'm quite bullish," he said. "A new market takes time to develop, particularly with new aircraft."
The European manufacturer expects to sell 20 aircraft into Australia in the next five years, and its first two customers are enthusiastic converts.
****** general manager Kevin Gill said the airline chose the ATR 42-500 after an evaluation of the 50-seat market.
The airline had been particularly impressed by the aircraft's unparalleled 99.6 per cent reliability.
"That has great appeal to our customers who, particularly in the mining industry, want to get their people to and from work on time."
****** had involved its customers in the selection process and had an aircraft for a demonstration flight, Mr Gill said.
"We then talked to them about how it fitted their needs for comfort, flying and operating in hot weather, the long sectors where payload is compromised and that sort of thing.
"That was part of our evaluation process and they also responded very favourably."
Other factors that swayed ****** included the aircraft's big cabin, its airconditioning system's handling of heat, and the fact it was a well-supported production aircraft with a local office and a spare parts centre in Auckland.
Jetcraft chief executive Danny Foster said the ATR 42-320 was ideally suited to Australian charter operations, allowing them to carry 46 passengers from unpaved mine-site airstrips in extremely hot conditions.
Mr Foster also cited product support, reliability, efficiency and passenger comfort as reasons for buying the aircraft.
Does anybody out there know any more about this company and where the ATR's will be used? The only hint is that they recently advertised for ATR rated engineers for an Adelaide basing. Alliance have also been sniffing around abet lately with the SA government and haven't they ordered F50's. Oh I wish we had a resource boom here in good ol Vic, but that is not going to happen, is it!? :uhoh: It is also interesting that Australia's most profitable airline by relative size is now the only company to be not investing in larger aircraft. My friends in REX tell me that a 50-70 seater good be very useful on some routes. With almost daily vacancies coming up internally here at J*, and a huge number of new recruits required, I wonder once again, where will the experienced crew come from to fly these ATR's, F50's, A320's, etc??
:ok: