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| Image: ATR |
On December 17, 2021, Franco-Italian turboprop manufacturer ATR announced having delivered its 1,600th aircraft.
The milestone aircraft, an ATR 72-600, went to Air New Zealand, the country’s national flag carrier and the world’s third-largest ATR operator, according to ATR.
The milestone ATR 72-600 is the last aircraft in the airline’s order for 29 turboprops. The first -600 was delivered to the airline’s then-subsidiary Mount Cook Airline in 2012.
Air New Zealand operates ATR turboprops to provide domestic air links in New Zealand since the early 90s, having introduced its first ATR 72-200 in 1994.
“We really value our longstanding relationship with ATR and this will be the 29th to join our fleet since 2012,” Air New Zealand’s Chief Executive Greg Foran in quoted as saying in ATR’s statement. “During that time the fleet of ATRs have boosted the airline’s regional network by over 50 per cent and they have proven extremely efficient. Our ATRs have helped us build one of the best domestic networks in the world and have flown an estimated 33.5 million passengers on more than 636,000 flights around New Zealand.”
To celebrate the occasion, ATR released a video showing the painting of Air New Zealand’s 1,600th. You can watch it here: