Amakusa To Take Japan’s First ATR 42
The new aircraft is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of next year.

Japan’s Amakusa Airlines expects to become the country’s first ATR 42 operator under the terms of a lease deal it signed in late July with Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC). The letter of intent calls for the Kumamoto Prefecture-based regional airline to take the aircraft, a new ATR 42-600, in the fourth quarter of next year. The announcement followed NAC’s firm order at the Farnborough airshow for 25 ATR 42-600s. NAC also took options on 50 of the turboprops, raising the potential value of the deal to more than $1.55 billion.

Plans call for the airplane to replace the airline’s 39-seat de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100.