Air Tahiti Takes Delivery of 25th ATR

French Polynesia-based Air Tahiti has taken delivery of its 25th ATR aircraft, an ATR 72-500. With this delivery, the airline which has operated ATR aircraft since 1986, now has a fleet of 3 ATR 42-500s and 7 ATR 72-500s.

Air Tahiti is also one of the launch customers of the new ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft, with an order for 3 ATR 42-600s and 2 ATR 72-600s which will start to be delivered in spring 2011. Air Tahiti will become, at the same time, the first operator of ATR ‘-600s’ in the South Pacific.

The new ATR 72-500 delivered, configured with 66 seats, is equipped with ETOPS (Extended Range Twin-engine Operations) 120 minutes and with the ‘Elegance’ cabin. The aircraft is powered by PW 127M engines and features state-of-the-art technological innovations in passenger comfort, communications and navigation aid tools.

Thanks to the ETOPS 120 capability of the ‘-500 series’ Air Tahiti is able to operate its ATR fleet over a network of islands as vast as Europe. ATR aircraft are thus paramount to the development of Air Tahiti’s network, and offer essential air transport services across French Polynesia. The airline counts today one of the largest and youngest fleet of ATR aircraft in the Pacific zone.

Maté Galenon, Managing Director of Air Tahiti, said, “We are very satisfied of maintaining such a long partnership with ATR, reinforced by the delivery of this 25th aircraft. For more than 20 years, the ATR have proven to be the right choice for our interisland operations. The high commonality between the ATR 42s and ATR 72s represents a clear advantage for us, as it allows us to operate our fleet optimally in some forty destinations, while minimizing our operating costs.”

“We have a total confidence in the ATR aircraft family and we are very proud of further developing our partnership with the introduction of the first ATR 42-600s and ATR 72-600s that will fly in the Pacific region. These aircraft, because of their very low fuel consumption, will enable us to enhance our operational capabilities, while reducing our environmental footprint, which is a major value in Polynesia,” Galenon added.

Since the beginning of the programme, ATR has sold 985 aircraft (422 ATR 42s and 563 ATR 72s).

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