Silver Airways (3M, Fort Lauderdale International) will take delivery of its first ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprop later this quarter as part of a lease-finance deal struck with Nordic Aviation Capital.

The Floridian regional specialist signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Franco-Italian manufacturer for the acquisition of up to 50 new ATR-600 series aircraft in August last year. Of the 50, 20 were secured by Silver Airways via lease financing.

According to the Danish lessor, the 20 aircraft include twelve ATR42-600s and three ATR72-600s that were recently ordered from ATR while the remaining five - four ATR42-600s and one ATR72-600 - are sourced from its existing ATR orderbook.

As such, the first aircraft is due to deliver to Silver Airways in March 2018 with the remainder expected to arrive through to 2020.

Silver Airways will use the brand-new ATR -600s to replace its existing fleet of twenty-one Saab 340B Plus while increasing the frequency of main routes and opening new air services to destinations in Florida, the southern United States, and the Caribbean.