ATR 42-500 gets "Thumbs up" in hot Australian outback

Wednesday 30th April, 2008

After six months of service in outback Australia, the country’s first ATR 42-500 airliner has been given the “thumbs up” by both its operator, Queensland regional airline MacAir, and by customers. The aircraft has also served as a test bed for other markets, such as Western Australia and South Australia, where there are similar demands for high performance turboprop operations into challenging regional markets including remote mine sites.

The MacAir aircraft was introduced last year to accommodate soaring demand for regional and remote air services as a result of the Queensland mining boom.Not only has it delivered much-needed extra capacity, and new standards of comfort, the ATR has also delivered upon the most challenging of expectations - reliability in one of the world’s harshest climates, where temperatures rarely fall below 30 degrees Celsius.

“Outback Queensland is very challenging territory for both people and machinery,” said Randal McFarlane, Managing Director of MacAir Airlines. “We needed a high-capacity turboprop aircraft to accommodate growing demand,” said Mr McFarlane. “But we also needed an aircraft which could perform effectively and reliably in a tough - at times extreme - operating environment. The ATR has delivered.”

One location served frequently by the ATR - Cloncurry, 770 kilometres inland from the coastal city of Townsville - holds the dubious record of achieving Australia’s highest temperature, a scorching 125 degrees Fahrenheit, or 53 degrees Celsius, back in 1869. The aircraft also operates to mine sites such as Zinifex Century Mine, BHP Cannington and Osborne Mines which are so remote, that employees fly in, do their work, then fly out again several days later to their homes in distant major centres - so-called “fly in-fly out” operations.

“Reliability is critical for any airline - but nowhere is this more important than in outback Australia,” said Mr McFarlane. “Air transport provides a crucial link to regional communities, delivering not only passenger transport but the carriage of urgent freight,” he said.“But in the remote mine sites - where employees fly in from major centres, do their work, then fly back home again - we provide the fastest and often the only link with the outside world. The ATR has enabled us to deliver this service with confidence.”

Since entering revenue service in September 2007, MacAir’s ATR 42-500 has demonstrated the highest levels of reliability on its services from Townsville to Cloncurry and even more remote Mt Isa, as well as to private airstrips developed by mining companies. It has also delivered a high level of comfort for regional commuters.

“The ATR42-500 is a high-speed, low noise aircraft, which offers a spacious passenger cabin fitted with cool and comfortable leather-covered seats, plus a galley, a toilet / washroom and a substantial freight compartment,” said Mr McFarlane.“The 2x2 seat cabin layout guarantees that every passenger has a window or aisle seats, the generous overhead luggage lockers provide plenty of space for carry-on items, and the 50-person capacity meets the demand for more seats on our busiest or fastest-growing routes,” he said.

“In addition, the ATR42-500 is an in-production aircraft, incorporating not only the latest in cabin facilities, but the most fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly engines of any aircraft in this category. And very importantly for the remote markets serviced by the ATR, the aircraft offers excellent air conditioning in the passenger cabin.”

Laurent Negre, ATR Sales Director, Australia and South Pacific, says the MacAir experience with the ATR42-500 in regional Queensland was a strong endorsement for the aircraft in other fly-in, fly-out markets in Australia.“As Australia’s resources boom continues, so too does the demand to fly skilled personnel into remote mining communities in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia,” said Mr Negre.
“The MacAir operation in Queensland has not only provided effective and reliable services to resource sites in that state - it has also demonstrated that it is a very capable aircraft, able to operate effectively, efficiently and economically in extreme conditions anywhere.”
“From the MacAir experience, we are confident that the ATR42-500 and the larger ATR72-500 can perform equally effectively in Queensland and in other remote markets elsewhere in Australia, such as Western Australia, where resources companies are increasing their operations, and needing to fly in additional qualified personnel.”

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