Rome 27 November 2014 16:41
Agreement signed at the Cabinet Office, before Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
Moretti: “ATR is an example of European synergy capable of delivering world-leading products”
The largest order of ATR aircraft in the last 20 years
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Finmeccanica’s CEO and General Manager, Mauro Moretti, attended the signing in Rome today, of a 1 billion US$ contract by ATR, the joint-venture between Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi and the Airbus Group, and Indonesia’s Lion Air.
This is the largest order of ATR aircraft in the last 20 years.
The contract, signed at the Cabinet Office by Patrick de Castelbajac, ATR’s CEO and Rusdi Kirana, President of Lion Group, is for the provision of 40 ATR 72-600 aircraft, to meet the growing demand for short and medium haul air transport in the Indonesian and Southeastern Asia region.
According to the agreement, to which SACE has provided an outstanding financial support, deliveries will start from January 2016 and will continue until December 2018. The new aircraft will be added to the 60 ATR 72 already ordered by Lion Air from 2008.
“The ATR joint-venture is a clear example of how synergy between the European aerospace industry leads to the development of leading-edge products and technological systems, ready to successfully meet the challenges posed at international level by increasingly fierce competitors” said Mauro Moretti. “Finmeccanica strongly believes in the ATR programme, in the quality of the product, and its commercial potential, which will enable the Italo-French joint-venture to continue to be a key-player in its own markets” he added.
Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi produces the entire metal fuselage of the ATR aircraft (ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600) fully equipped with its systems, as well as the tail assemblies built in composite material.
The major structural components of the fuselage are manufactured at the site in Nola and are assembled at the Pomigliano d’Arco site, both sites are located near Naples, providing a finished and fully equipped fuselage. The composite material structural parts making up the tail assemblies are manufactured at the Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi Foggia site.
Notes to Editors
ATR has its headquarters in Toulouse, southern France, The aeronautics programme, which began as a joint-venture established in the early 1980s between the French Aérospatiale, now Airbus Group, and Aeritalia, now Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi, is a world-leader in the turboprop aircraft market, with over 1,400 orders and a production backlog of over three years. Currently, 180 airline companies across 90 countries use ATR aircraft.
ATR aircraft are available in two versions, the ATR 42 50-seat aircraft and the ATR 72 70-seat aircraft, which share the same wing, fuselage section, basic systems and cockpits, constituting a safe and economical transport solution for regional routes, thanks to high operational standards and top cabin comfort.