France-based regional aircraft manufacturer ATR will attend the Dubai Air Show to be held from November 11-15, 2007.

ATR, the world leader in the 50 to 74-seat turboprop market, recently reached an important new milestone with the launch of the “-600 series”.

The newest version of its family of aircraft will be introduced during the second half of 2010.

The new ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 will include many improvements and feature the very latest technological enhancements, including a new avionics suite, new PW 127 M engine and a weight increase of 300Kg on MTOW (maximum take-off weight) and MZFW (maximum zero fuel weight).

Since the beginning of the year, ATR has received orders for 77 new aircraft, some of them not yet unveiled.

Since the beginning of the programme, ATR has sold 914 aircraft (414 ATR 42s and 500 ATR 72s) and has delivered 745 (397 ATR 42s and 348 ATR 72s), thus posting a current backlog of 169 aircraft.

ATR forecasts revenues of around $1 billion in 2007, representing two successive years of 30 per cent increase in turnover. ATR is an equal partnership between Alenia Aeronautica (Finmeccanica group) and Eads. – TradeArabia News Service