ATR’s sales momentum didn’t pause for the turn of the calendar as the Franco-Italian turboprop maker landed two more contracts for a total of eight turboprops before the ink had dried on last year’s financial reports. Canarian Navigation and Aerial Services, a company operating from Spain’s Canary Islands, announced a $36 million contract for two new ATR 72-500s for delivery this year following an agreement for four made last September. Azerbaijan’s $100 million order for four ATR 72-500s and two 42-500s for the central Asian republic’s national carrier, Azerbaijan Airlines, will count toward ATR’s 2006 figures, with delivery earmarked for this year and next.
The sales came on the heels of Trip Linhas Aereas’s firm order for seven new ATR 72s plus five options placed in December, marking the first sale of new ATRs to a Brazilian airline. Last year the joint venture between Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica and EADS booked orders for 63 aircraft (56 ATR 72-500s and seven ATR 42-500s) and options on another 25–the manufacturer’s second highest tally following contracts for a record 90 aircraft the previous year.
