ATR - Avions de Transport Régional is keen to increase its footprint in Malaysia, talking to a range of airlines, including Firefly (FY, Penang), MASwings (MY, Kota Kinabalu), and Batik Air Malaysia (OD, Kuala Lumpur International) about replacing some of their fleet with ATRs. The manufacturer has 30 of its planes already placed across four Malaysia-based airlines, but thinks there is scope for upgrades and further growth.
“We are talking to all our turboprop operators in Malaysia," ATR sales director Mavis Toh told the EdgeMarkets portal. "The biggest operator of the ATR here is MAG (Malaysia Aviation Group), but the turboprop planes in its fleet are the older generation ATR72-500s, which are 12 to 14 years old. Clearly, there is an opportunity there for upgrades.
MAG's airline businesses include Malaysia Airlines, FireFly, and MASwings. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, MASwings has ten ATR72-500s, Firefly has nine ATR72-500s, Batik Air Malaysia has ten ATR42-600s, and passenger charter airline Berjaya Air (J8, Kuala Lumpur Subang) has one ATR42-500.
"Our focus is to help operators regain their operations back to pre-pandemic levels. I see plenty of opportunities for the new ATR42-600S short take-off and landing (STOL) variant to go into shorter airfields or island destinations,” said Toh.
ch-aviation data also indicates eight ATR72-600s ordered by Malaysia Airlines remain undelivered while Lion Air (JT, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) has 16 of the type also undelivered. ch-aviation has contacted both airlines to ascertain the status of those orders.
The ATR42-600S is capable of using runways as short as 800 metres, something Toh says opens up a range of route possibilities for Malaysian carriers as well as offering the opportunity to boost capacity on existing routes by swapping out smaller aircraft. Depending on payload limitations, the ATR42-600 is capable of carrying between 30 and 50 passengers.
