Cebu Pacific ATR aircraft at Ninoy Aquino International Airport
Turboprop aircraft manufacturer ATR foresees a spike in demand for smaller aircraft in Asia-Pacific, fuelled by regional airlines’ quests to increase connectivity, develop secondary markets and provide affordable transport.
Its studies showed that regional traffic demand in emerging countries would grow eight times faster than in more mature economies, with demand for new turboprops expected to reach 750 units over the next 20 years.
ATR currently corners over 90 per cent of small aircraft sales in South-east Asia with 337 ATRs in use by 60 airlines. It also opened an office in Beijing last year, already delivered 36 out of 100 aircraft ordered by Indonesia’s Lion Air, and delivered to Cebu Pacific (CEB) this month its first ever 78-seater ATR 72-600.
Two more ATR 72-600 will be delivered to CEB over the next few months as part of a 16-aircraft order for delivery running up to 2020 with the option to order 10 more, according to ATR global sales head John Moore.
The 78-seater aircrafts will all be used by CEB subsidiary Cebgo, progressively replacing its fleet of ATR 72-500s configured with 72 seats, to expand its domestic route network and frequencies, said Alexander Lao, CEB vice president commercial and Cebgo president.
Moore added that apart from six additional seats, the new ATR 72-600 series needs almost 50 per cent less fuel than bigger aircraft, feature advanced avionics and increased legroom and cabin space. It is suitable in the Philippines where only 30 of the over 100 airports can handle bigger aircraft.
Lorie Mandilag, senior reservations and sales officer at Adam’s Express Travel, said the additional ATRs are great for accessing and developing tourist attractions otherwise reachable only by land and boat. It will mean mounting more flights which will make air travel more affordable to more people.
“Sometimes Hong Kong and Bangkok are more reasonably priced than some Philippine destinations which have limited air service,” Mandilag pointed out.
Concurring, Grand Holidays reservations agent Matt Suzara said more aircraft for Boracay would mean competitive prices as the island resort is quite expensive due to strong demand yet limited air seats.
Suzara added that the Philippines has many hidden tourist spots that can now be reached by tourists with the availability of more aircraft.
