French-Italian regional turboprop manufacturer ATR earlier this month unveiled a new partnership with Italian design house Giugiaro Design for the development of the cabin of its ATR 42/72-600 series. The makeover, called Armonia, reduces the aircraft’s total weight by the equivalent of two passengers and will be available as a retrofit on the ATR’s current -500 series. Visitors to the Farnborough airshow can see, for the first time, a full-scale mockup of an ATR 72-600 with the Armonia cabin and a new avionics suite.
Certification and entry into service of the 72-600 is expected in the second half of 2011, probably during the summer, Bagnato said. Just before the Farnborough show opened, ATR said it had orders for 59 of its 42/72-600 series, comprising 52 examples of the 72-700 and seven copies of the 42-600. The company, which claims to have 56 percent of the market for 50- to 74-seat regional turboprops, is considering a possible 90/100-seat turboprop. Nothing has been decided and, in any case, no announcement would be forthcoming before certification of the 72-600, which is the company’s priority.
