Regional Aviation operations
The 70- to 80-seat Q400 NextGen aircraft is a fast, quiet, fuelefficient turboprop that delivers a perfect balance of passenger comfort and operating economics
Photographs: bombardier
Put simply, the rule suggests that ideally, a carrier match aircraft capacity to passenger demand precisely. Currently, some flights don’t carry enough revenue passengers to cover operating costs. Yet other flights spill demand to competitors because aircraft are too small. Neither case is optimal. The shifting market dynamics led Embraer to the principle of fleet capacity optimisation and the rule of 70- to 110-. Applied correctly, The rule helps airlines achieve operating efficiency without compromising performance or passenger comfort. E-Jets and Right Sizing The Embraer E-170, 175, 190, and 195 jets are a new-evolution family of aircraft, each engineered from the ground up to be comfortable, efficient and cost-effective. Embraer created a new platform specifically for the 70- to 110-seat segment. The 170/190 family offers high-end performance with spacious comfort only found on much larger mainline aircraft. The result is a remarkable combination of superior airfield performance, impressive range and low operating costs with the ability to carry customers in a cabin providing more personal and stowage space per passenger than some current main line equipment. Now virtually every mission is possible such as short-range,
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high-frequency hub-and-spoke missions, medium-range flights to complement time-of-day peak and off-peak demand schedules and also new frequencies on long and thin markets to access cities beyond the usual catchment area. The 170/190 family fills the gap perfectly to blur the line between mainline and regional. ATR for Short haul ATR has become the benchmark for regional turboprop aircraft with sales exceeding 1,200 aircraft with over 180 operators in more than 90 countries. Every 12 seconds, an ATR takes off somewhere around the world. The ATR 42 with 48 to 50 seats configuration is the only Western aircraft in this class with an outstanding airfield performance. The typical configuration of 48 seats is at 30” pitch. The ATR 42 is the only 50-seater aircraft in production with a secured future. It is the right size and natural choice for both fragmented and niche markets The ATR 72 has capacities of 68 to 74 seats and 70 configuration comes at 30” pitch. It claims to have the lowest seat cost of all regional aircraft. The ATR 72 is recognised as the most cost-effective regional aircraft, positioning it as the industry reference to serve both low-cost/low yields environment. The ATR 600 series is a large step forward in the regional
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