The ATR 42-600 has obtained certification from
the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
This certification, prior to the aircraft's
entry into service, marks the end of a series of ground and
in-flight tests which were performed on the ATR 42-600 prototype.
Within the framework of the
test campaign, the ATR 42-600 benefited from its similarity to the
ATR 72-600, which was certified in May 2011.
As for the ATR
72-600, all of the tests on the ATR 42-600 were used to validate
that the new systems and equipment installed on board operate
correctly, especially the new “glass cockpit” avionics suite with
5 LCD screens, new communication, navigation and monitoring
systems, flight management system (FMS), automatic pilot, alert management and multi-purpose computer (MPC, which integrates
aircraft maintenance and protection functions in particular).
Since the launch of the “-600” program in October
2007, ATR has already received orders for a total of 250 ATR
42-600 and ATR 72-600 aircraft.
Entry into service
of the new ATR 42-600 is scheduled for summer 2012. The ATR
72-600, it has been in service since August 2011 and is currently
operated by 7 airlines worldwide.
Filippo Bagnato,
Chief Executive Officer of ATR, said, “We are very pleased to see
that the entire ATR “-600” family is now ready to operate for our
customers. Today we are the only manufacturer of 50-seater
aircraft in the world and we estimate that, over the next twenty
years, there will be a substantial potential market in this
category. Therefore, we must offer the market an aircraft equipped
with all the latest technology and the highest levels of comfort.
ATR 42-600
Passenger capacity: 46 to 50 seats Engines:
Pratt & Whitney 127M Maximum take-off power: 2400 horsepower
per engine Maximum take-off weight: 18,600 kgs Maximum load:
5,500 kgs Maximum flight range when fully loaded: 800 nautical
miles (1,483 kms)
See other recent news regarding:
Travel News Asia,
Interviews,
Pictures,
Sports Tourism,
Videos,
ATR
|