TURBOPROP
COUNTRY
New ATRs, new era for PNG Air
WRITER: JORDAN CHONG
H
earing the familiar whine of
a turboprop coming into land
often brings a smile to the faces
of many Papua New Guineans
living in the remote villages
spread out across the country.
Their arrival not only brings
important materials such as medial
equipment, building supplies and
other commercial goods, the aircraft
offers a badly needed link to the rest
of the country.
Situated to Australia’s north, PNG
comprises the eastern half of New
Guinea Island and includes about 600
other islands including Bougainville
Manus, New Britain and New Ireland to
the east and north. (Indonesia holds the
western half of New Guinea Island).
The country’s 7.3 million residents are
spread out in the small towns and villages
across the vast archipelago, with just 13
per cent of the population living in urban
areas according to World Bank figures.
On top of that, the terrain is
dominated by tropical rainforests
and rugged mountain ranges that
are accessible on foot, by river
boat, and through the air.
All this makes Port Moresby one of
the world’s more unusual capital cities,
given it cannot be reached from the rest
of the country by road.
The geography, coupled with
the lack of transport infrastructure,
highlights the importance of air travel
for those living in remote communities.
Without it, a trip to visit the doctor or
pick up tools for building a house could
involve a two-day hike and boat ride.
PNG Air is one of two national
airlines connecting communities to
each other and to the national capital
alongside Air Niugini.
Founded in 1987, the airline has just
come through a recent restructuring
and is now 90 per cent locally owned.
It has about a 20 per cent share of the
domestic market and the airline’s 730
staff carried 450,000 passengers in
calendar 2014.
Under the leadership of chief
executive Muralee Siva and chairman
Murray Woo, PNG Air has turned
around several years of losses and
reached breakeven in the most recent
half year.
And PNG Air is embarking on
the next chapter of its history with a
refleeting program that will eventually
phase out its fleet of 14 Dash 8-100
aircraft in favour of new ATR 72-600
P NG Air’s first ATR 72-600,
P2‑ATR, at Port Moresby. atr
turboprops. Its de Havilland Canada
DHC-6 Twin Otters have already left
the fleet.
Siva says ATR represented the only
long-term solution for PNG Air given
the aircraft can operate to all the major
domestic ports in the country, and all
but one of the airports currently in
PNG Air’s route network.
“Compared to any other country,
in PNG aviation is so critical because
if you look at the challenges we
have – road infrastructure is limited –
therefore aviation is so much part and
parcel of life in this country from a
business point of view and leisure point
of view,” Siva tells reporters in Port
Moresby on November 25.
“It is critical infrastructure for
economic development.”
The first ATR 72-600, which has
the rather apt registration P2-ATR, is
also the first aircraft to feature PNG
Air’s new livery reflecting the cultural
heritage and diversity of the country
– “faces of PNG” – began service on
November 15 and has met with rave
reviews from staff and passengers.
The plan is for PNG Air to have an
all-ATR fleet by the early 2020s and it
currently has six ATR 72-600s on firm
order and options for 14 more. There is
also one ATR coming via lease.
PNG Air is also the launch customer
of ATR’s “cargo-flex” solution, which
allows the 72-600’s cabin to switch
between a full passenger layout of 72
seats or mixed passenger/freighter
configuration at short notice.
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TURBOPROP COUNTRY
PNG Air chief executive
Muralee Siva, chairman
Murray Woo and ATR head of
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John Moore. atr
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The conversion takes less than a day
and results in an 82 per cent increase
in cargo capacity from 1,700kg to
3,100kg, thanks to the installation of
four cargo containers, while the number
of seats is reduced from 72 to 44.
Siva says the ATR 72-600 will
provide a significant boost to the
bottom line. Further, the cargo-flex
option offers great flexibility in a
country where there is almost no
domestic night flying due to limited
navigation aids and safety concerns
travelling by road from the airport after
the sun goes down.
“With the short sectors, narrow
strips and gravel strips and all those
things combined, it makes it a perfect
match for ATR,” Siva says.
“It is the only aircraft which can give
us the lowest cost service for the country.
“In terms of cost per available
seat kilometres it is around half of a
Dash 8. In a total cost sense it is only
slightly more than a Dash 8 but we can
obviously carry double the passengers.”
PNG Air, which used to fly to
Australia but is now focused on the
core domestic market, has purchased
eight cargo pods, enough for two cargoflex aircraft.
P NG Air crew during a
demonstration flight of the
ATR 72-600. atr
PNG upgrading infrastructure
PNG airport authorities are working
to improve airport infrastructure right
around the country amid growth in the
domestic market and with an eye to the
capital Port Moresby hosting the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
conference in 2018.
There are plans to build a new
terminal at Port Moresby’s Jacksons
International Airport ahead of the
APEC conference. The new terminal is
expected to handle international flights,
with the current international terminal
to become the domestic terminal.
The new terminals will help cater
for the expected increase in passengers
given the PNG domestic market has
grown at close to 20 per cent a year
over the past five years.
“I must give a lot of credit to the
government and the airport authorities.
They have spent a lot of money and
effort, they have a huge program to
upgrade the facilities,” Siva says.
“We are really happy with what they
are doing. We are confident they are
doing their part to support us to cater
for growth.”
ATR extends its reach
ATR, the joint venture between Airbus
and Alenia Aermacchi, generates about
It is quite a
vast region
with a
diverse type
of operator
base.
JOHN MOORE
US$2 billion in annual revenues and
has 1,200 employees at its Toulouse
headquarters.
Its current product line-up
comprises the ATR 42-600 which seats
between 48 and 50 passengers, and the
ATR 72-600 which can carry between
68 and 78 passengers, and the aircraft
are currently in service with 190
customers in 90 countries.
There are close to 300 aircraft in the
order backlog, and output has increased
from 51 aircraft in 2010 to an expected
90 deliveries in 2015.
Securing its first customer for new
aircraft in PNG has extended ATR’s
reach in the fast-growing Asia Pacific
region, after it successfully wooed
Japan Airlines to put pen to paper on an
order for eight ATR 42-600s (as well as
one option and 14 purchase rights).
ATR head of global sales John
Moore says there is strong momentum
building in the Asia Pacific region,
which has about 350 ATRs in service
across 58 operators in 25 countries.
Singapore is a regional ATR hub with
training and maintenance facilities,
while there is a flight simulator facility
in New Zealand.
“It is quite a vast region with a
diverse type of operator base,” Moore
says, ranging from low-cost carrier
Cebu Pacific to full-service operator
Bangkok Airways” Moore explains.
“We’ve been fortunate to achieve
probably an 80 per cent marketshare in
the turboprop segment here.
“Operators, when they consider
which aircraft they are going to fly
and they look around and see what
everyone else is operating and they
see a lot of ATRs, they see that the
infrastructure is there, the spares
and the support and the training is
all there.”
Airlines flying the ATR in this part
of the world include, apart from PNG
Air, Air New Zealand, which Moore
describes as a flagship customer, and
Virgin Australia.
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines
has 13 ATR aircraft, split between the
previous 72-500 model and current
72-600 model, which features larger
overhead lockers and new cabin
lighting for passengers, while pilots
work in an improved all-glass cockpit
with the Thales suite of avionics.
“It is really achieving the highest
level of navigation technology, of safety
standards and efficiency. It is a platform
really that can take us well into the
future in terms of the developments
of the avionics and navigation
capabilities,” Moore says.
“We’ve worked a lot on the cabin
comfort as well. The ATR is a very
comfortable, quiet aircraft with a good
experience to the passenger.”
There is also the option of installing
a business class seat, which will be a
part of the PNG Air fleet.
Meanwhile, Air NZ is poised to
become the world’s third largest ATR
operator after signing on the dotted line
for 16 additional ATR 72-600s
in November.
Of the 16, the airline will use 11
frames to replace its ATR 72-500s,
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TURBOPROP COUNTRY
while four have been earmarked for
growth within regional New Zealand.
The new order is separate to an
existing ATR order, which still has
seven turboprops due to arrive between
now and the middle of 2016.
“They really know how to operate
the aircraft,” Moore says of Air NZ.
A slide accompanying Moore’s
presentation claims the ATR’s direct
operating cost on a flight of 200nm
was up to 15 per cent lower than a rival
turboprop and up to 40 per cent lower
compared with a Next Gen CRJ900
regional jet.
“You have a fairly low fuel burn
on the aircraft. It is really quite
competitive in terms of cost per seat. It
is the lowest cost per seat aircraft in the
70-seat category,” Moore says.
Where to for the 36-seat market?
The ATR 42-500 is the only 50-seat
aircraft still being made today. The
50-56 seat Dash-8 Q300, built by
Bombardier, ended its production run
after the 267th and last of the type rolled
off the final assembly line in 2009.
Whether the aircraft manufacturer
would venture down the path of
designing anything smaller than a
50‑seat turboprop is often raised with
ATR and the November 25 media
briefing in Port Moresby proved
no exception.
In Australia, Regional Express
(Rex) is one of the world’s biggest
operators of 34-seat Saab 340s with 54
in its fleet, some of which are used for
charters and cargo services by sister
carrier Pel-Air.
While there is still plenty of life
in those airframes, the fact remains
production of the Saab 340 stopped
in 1998 and there is not a ready
replacement.
Further, Rex increased flying
in 2015 after being awarded three
new Queensland government route
contracts, bringing to five the number
of subsidised services it operates in
that state. And the airline is due to
commence Perth-Albany and PerthEsperances service from February
after winning the two tenders from the
Western Australian government.
QantasLink too will have to find a
solution for life after its Dash 8-200
fleet, which it uses to serve Lord Howe
Island 425nm north-east of Sydney.
It is understood the ATR 42-600
can take off and land on the short
Lord Howe Island runway, which is
30m wide and 866 metres long, with a
commercially viable payload.
Moore says there are several
markets around the world, including
in the United States, where there
are a number of 30-seat turboprops
and 50‑seat regional jets still flying,
that may be replaced by 50-seat
ATR 42‑600s.
“Mathematically, you can’t think
that all of those aircraft are going to
be replaced with 70-seat aircraft, there
is a certain segment that are going to
stay at the smaller-sized category,”
Moore says.
“We are quite bullish on the
future of the 50-seater and the 42-600.
We have a long-term vision and
a long-term commitment to the
50-seat market.
“Our current production and sales is
probably 80-85 per cent 72 and 15 per
cent 42, so it is certainly not a big
Over time
there is going
to be an
opportunity
to replace
these
aircraft.
JOHN MOORE
P NG Air plans to have an all-ATR
fleet by the early 2020s. atr
percentage of the market, but for us it
is very important to have the family of
aircraft that we can offer to the market
and we have a number of customers
that have taken both the 42 and the 72.”
Will there be a 100-seat turboprop?
At the other end of the scale, the general
trend for larger capacity aircraft has
raised the prospect of a turboprop built
to carry between 90 and 100 seats at
some future point.
ATR has certainly looked at larger
aircraft than the current ATR 72-600
model, which Philippines-based lowcost carrier Cebu Pacific configures
with 78 seats in a high-density layout.
However, Moore said the focus
currently was on optimising the
efficiencies, performance and
technology of the current ATR 72-600
and smaller ATR 42-600 models.
“At this time it is not our focus and
it is not our priority,” Moore says.
“Our focus more is on how we
can improve the efficiency and the
economics and the technology of the
existing aircraft for the current airframe.
“The 90-seater is kind of on the
backburner. Perhaps we will look at
that again in the future. It is ultimately
a decision of the shareholders of ATR.”
Moore says large numbers of older
aircraft in the 50-70 seat category still
in service, including those operating
charter or fly-in/fly-out contracts for the
mining sector, should support demand
for its family of turboprops in the
period ahead, particularly in Australia.
The ATRs can be fitted with gravel
kits for narrow and unpaved airfields,
the likes of which are all too common
in PNG, adding to their versatility.
Moore notes there are about 200
regional aircraft operating in Australia
currently, with about 80 per cent of
those turboprops.
“If you look at the average age of
these aircraft, many of them are over 20
years old,” Moore says.
“So over time there is going to be
an opportunity to replace these aircraft.
We’ve got both the 50-seat and the
70-seat models so [they are] well-suited
for some of these types of markets
which are reasonably thin and don’t
have a lot of growth.
“It could be a market for us not
only for new aircraft, but probably
also for second-hand aircraft as well
where in some cases the utilisation
and economics may not justify a
new aircraft.
“We see some good future potential
for this market to grow.”
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