Malaysia Airlines has signed a purchase
agreement with ATR for 20 ATR 72-600s, with options for a further
16 additional aircraft.
The deal is valued at over US$ 840
million, including options, and deliveries are expected to start by mid 2013.
With this signature, Malaysia Airlines brings to
42 the total of firm ATR 72s purchased since the initial purchase
agreement in 2007. The airline currently has 22 ATR 72-500s,
operated by business units Firefly (12) and MASwings (10).
The introduction of these aircraft, which are the first ATR -600s
to be selected for the growing Malaysian and regional market, will
help to strengthen Firefly's and MASwings position on community
markets and business routes.
Besides the 22 ATR 72-500s operated by
Firefly and MASwings, Malaysia Airlines also has a fleet of over
100 medium and long-haul A330s,
A380s, B737s, B747s and B777s.
The
airline has just become a member of oneworld, and operates flights to Asia, Australia/New Zealand, the
Middle East, Europe and the US West coast.
Commenting
on the deal, Ahmad Jauhari, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia
Airlines, said, “We have been partnering with ATR for the last
five years, and we are really satisfied with the outstanding
performance and the commercial results that our ATR 72s provide to
our growing community networks. The ATR aircraft are clearly
playing an important role in the development of Malaysia Airlines,
as they connect regional destinations and enable us to feed larger
aircraft at our main hubs. The new aircraft will further improve
the guest experience on our community airlines as they connect
more and more people across Malaysia and the surrounding regions.”
Ignatius Ong, Chief Executive Officer of Firefly,
added, “Our exclusive ATR 72 fleet has allowed Firefly to
develop a unique high frequency network out of Subang, Penang and
Johor Baruh, which greatly benefits our Malaysian communities, as
well as the rest of the population in the
Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).”
Captain
Dato' Nawawi Awang, Chief Executive Officer of MASwings, said, “We
are glad that MASwings' fleet of ATR 72s can efficiently serve the
Sabah and Sarawak (East Malaysian states), and the BIMP-EAGA
(Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines East ASEAN Growth
Area) communities and help to further enhance the tourism industry
and the socio-economic development of the region.”
ATR 72-600
Passenger capacity: 68-74 seats Engines: Pratt & Whitney Canada
PW 127M Maximum power at take-off: 2,750 horse power per engine
Maximum weight at take-off: 23,000 Kg Maximum load: 7,500 Kg
Maximum range with full passenger load: 900 nautical miles (1,665
Km)
See also:
Inside the Malaysia Airlines A380,
Malaysia Airlines A380 @ Farnborough 2012
and
Sunny Day III - Malaysia Airlines A380 Aerial/Flying Display
Malaysia Airlines,
ATR
|