French aircraft manufacturer ATR has confirmed that Bahamasair's order for five of its aircraft was announced at the Paris Air Show in June 2015, and pointed out to Guardian Business that there are 180 ATR aircraft in operation in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The company was responding to questions from Guardian Business in the wake of intimations in the Trinidad and Tobago press that Caribbean Airlines (CAL) may have had some issues with the ATR aircraft that airline purchased to replace its Dash 8 300s, a decision that Bahamasair has also made.
Dionne Ligoure, CAL head of corporate communications, confirmed that the CEO whose 2016 strategic plan contemplated replacing the ATR 72-600s with Bombardier Dash 8 400s - Canadian Michael Di Lollo - had stepped down from CAL for "personal reasons".
"Caribbean Airlines is constantly evaluating long and short term network plans, a key component of which is aircraft requirements. However, at this time, no definite requirements have been made. Caribbean Airlines has not ordered any aircraft to replace the ATR," Ligoure said.
"At the time of purchase, the ATR aircraft were selected based on the airline's operational needs. The ATR fleet undergoes routine maintenance and any other maintenance as required is done to ensure that Caribbean Airlines maintains the highest safety standards," she said.
And as noted by David Vargas, ATR head of media relations, 180 planes is not a small number for the region.
"This has more than doubled in the last five years; highlighting their attractiveness for regional airlines in the region, including many of them operating inter-islands flights, like Air Antilles, Air Caraibes, LIAT, Caribbean Airlines," Vargas said.
"Overall, the ATR-600 fleet worldwide features an outstanding dispatch reliability, over 99.6 percent," he said.
Questioned about the number of complaints ATR has received about these planes, and from whom, Vargas asserted that ATR represent some 40 percent of the total sales for regional aircraft worldwide since 2010, for both jets and turboprops combined.
"They are the best-selling regional aircraft in the world, even when compared to new or re-engined regional jets. When compared only to turboprops, they represent almost 80 percent of the global sales when compared to the competing Q400.
"This clearly highlights the fact that regional airlines mainly trust ATR when developing their short-haul routes. ATR has today 200 operators in almost 100 countries, much more than any other manufacturer. This is the best proof of the performance and pertinence of these planes," Vargas said.
Some in the local airline industry have questioned when the decision was made to purchase ATRs and why it was that the announcement was made in Paris, not The Bahamas.
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