Out with the new, in with the old. After years of seemingly inevitable decline in the face of competition from jets, turboprops are making a comeback as oil prices remain high. ATR, a turboprop manufacturer partly owned by Airbus parent EADS, received firm orders for 157 planes in 2011, with options for an additional 79 in 2011. This grew the company’s backlog significantly to 224 planes. The company plans to deliver 72 planes in 2012, up from 54 in 2011, and below 20 in the middle years of the last decade.
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Demand for ATR’s 50 seat and 72 seat turboprop models is largely driven by regional carriers in the Asia Pacific region. Though turboprops are louder and slower than jets, they are more fuel-efficient and this is a major concern for small carriers in developing nations. The trend towards turboprops has not yet reached the United States, where even regional jets of this size have struggle, but with fuel costs showing no signs of retreating, perhaps a turboprop revival is in the cards.
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