NZFF

Air New Zealand has shelved a US$300 million (NZ$447 million) plan to replace its fleet of 11 ATR 72-500 regional turboprop aircraft.


Instead the airline will buy seven of the aircraft it currently leases in October next year for an undisclosed sum.

Air New Zealand had been evaluating three replacement options for the past 18 months: the French-made 68-seat ATR 72-600, which is the newer version of the current 500 model; Canada's 74-seat Bombardier Q400, a bigger version of the Q300 flown by subsidiary Air Nelson; and the Embraer 70-seat E-170 regional jet from Brazil.

The airline was originally considering an order of 15 larger or next-generation models from the manufacturers to boost capacity and open new routes.

Group general manager of short-haul airlines, Bruce Parton, said the current replacement options did not provide enough performance improvements to justify the substantial cost of replacing the ATR fleet.

The replacement aircraft would also have been more expensive to operate, which would have led to higher fares. "We expect the next generation of turboprop aircraft to be available from 2015," Mr Parton said.

The 72-500 was popular with passengers as one of the quietest and most fuel efficient aircraft of its type available. It was planned to update the cabins from next year.

The ATRs entered service with subsidiary Mount Cook Airline in 1999.

whoops! - you bet me to it Dask77 - I repeated the news in the ATR replacement thread

Naki wrote:

QUOTE (Naki @ Oct 11 2008, 09:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

whoops! - you bet me to it Dask77 - I repeated the news in the ATR replacement thread

lol

I think keeping the ATRs is probably a good decision - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The ATRs are doing their job fairly well and waiting for the next generation might be a good idea.
This will give me another chance to fly the ATR - I have only flown one once

Anthony wrote:

QUOTE (Anthony @ Oct 12 2008, 12:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think keeping the ATRs is probably a good decision - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The ATRs are doing their job fairly well and waiting for the next generation might be a good idea.
This will give me another chance to fly the ATR - I have only flown one once

true true true, but it would be nice to see jet into palmy north again

I think this is the right decision, it would be awesome to see the E170 in action on city-to-city routes that dont demand the 737's, oh well wait a few more years i guess

A bit of a shame, I think a lot of us would've liked to have seen something new, but from a business point of view it makes sense. Better to have the same old planes than to have no airline because they bought new planes they didn't need.

Personally I never saw anything wrong with the ATR72-500s in the first place! Granted, I wouldn't know the first thing about them compared to those who pay for their maintenance, mind you.

Like dask, I would have liked to have seen jets into Palmy but would prefer it to be because our passenger numbers justify it, rather than us being handed a jet service on a plate along with all the other regional centres. Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch get their services because they deserve them. Likewise for Dunedin, Hamilton, Rotorua and Queenstown. It will be great, if the day ever comes, to see Palmy 'earn' a jet service rather than getting handed one that you know will inevitably be pulled at some point.