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ATR ready for take-off in China

By Zhu Wenqian in Kunming | China Daily | Updated: 2018-11-14 11:05
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A turboprop aircraft is seen at the Yantai International Airport in Yantai, Shandong province. [Photo by Lin Yizeng/for China Daily]

Turboprop maker sees massive growth potential in regional aircraft market

European turboprop manufacturer ATR, which makes planes with 90 seats or less, said it is bullish on the prospects of China's rapidly growing regional aircraft market, and foresees demand for 1,100 new turboprops in the nation over the next two decades.

The regional aviation sector sees significant demand from business and tourism in less-densely populated second and third-tier Chinese cities, where there is less-developed road infrastructure and the development of high-speed railways faces obstacles, the company said.

"The development of the short-haul regional aircraft market in China is still in its infancy, and there is a remarkable growth potential," Stefano Bortoli, CEO of ATR, a joint venture between Airbus Group and Italy-based aerospace company Leonardo-Finmeccanica, said in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.

"For example, in Yunnan province, a bunch of new regional airports and regional routes that connect popular tourism cities like Lijiang, Shangri-La and Xishuangbanna, are expected to emerge," he said.

Through 2037, a total of nearly 2,200 new regional routes, including almost 700 new routes to be flown by turboprops, are expected to be created in China. The traffic volume of China's regional aviation market will be eight times greater than it is today, according to the latest Chinese market forecast released last week.

The number of regional aircraft currently accounts for 2 percent of China's total fleet, compared with the global average of 25 percent, said ATR, which accounts for 75 percent of the turboprop market globally.

Now in China, 90 percent of air traffic comes from 13 percent of the largest airports nationwide. In the past two decades, the number of single-aisle airplanes in China surged eightfold. During the same period, the number of wide-body aircraft jumped fivefold, while the fleet size of regional jets doubled, ATR said in its report.

In terms of regions, in the next 20 years, northeastern China is expected to need 345 new turboprops, and southeastern China will need 300 new turboprops. The number is expected to be 230 for northwestern China and 225 for southwestern China, it said.

"China's fleet lacks the adapted capacity necessary to operate regional routes economically. When the traffic is limited, using large jets is not sustainable unless it is hugely subsidized," Bortoli said.

Currently, no ATR aircraft are flying in China. The company said it is in discussions with potential customers, and it said its first customer is likely to appear in Yunnan.

By 2020, China plans to build more than 500 airports and create a market worth more than 1 trillion yuan ($144 billion) for its general aviation industry, according to the government's plan released in 2016.

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