The ATR42 In Air Queensland Service

The new aircraft was beil”ig launched into a market that was seeing an unprecedented number of new types being offered to the airlines. Some of the companies developing these new types, Embraer, Fokker, Casa, BAe and De Havilland Canada, had been involved in this market for years so had a firm base to work from. ATR were a new company with a new product therefore from the start it had to be the best.

The ATR consortium shared equally the responsibility for the production and marketing of the ATR42. Aeritalia were to handle the design and production of the fuselage, including the rear section and tail unit. This was carried out at their Capodichino and Pomigliano d’Arco plants in Naples. Aerospatiare were responsible for the construction of the wing section with the outer wing box being produced in Nantes and the center wing box in Saint Nazaire. Design and construction of the cockpit, powerplant installation, final assembly and flight testing were carried out at Toulouse.

All this planning came together on May 23rd 1984 when the first ATR42 F-WEGA was rolled off the production line. After being painted in ATR’s colours of blue/red/green F-WEGA made its first flight from the Toulouse-Blagnac airfield on August 16th 1984. The second ATR42 was registered F-WEGB and it made its first flight on October 31st 1984. This aircraft carried the colours of two of the launch customers – Command Airways on the starboard and Finnair on the port. The third ATR42 F-WEGC, carrying the colours of French regional operator Air Littoral, made its first flight on April 30th 1985 and was used in the final phases of the certification programme.

ATR42 Powerplant

Avians de Transport Regional selected the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of Canada PW120 as the engine to power the ATR42. This engine was developed by PWAC for the new generation of commuter/regional transport aircraft that were coming on the scene. From the basic PW100 PWAC could see a family of engines developing to succeed their very popular PT6A. Design start-up on the PW115 was initiated in June 1979 with the first complete engine being run in March 1981. The first flight of the PW115 was made in February 1982 with the engine mounted in the nose of Viscount 700 C-FTIO-X. Certification was achieved in December 1983 with initial production deliveries following in January 1984.

The PW115, of 1,590shp, was selected by Embraer for the EMB-120 Brasilia. The PW120 of 1,800shp, which was selected for the ATR42, was first run in February 1982 and flown the following December. The PW120 of 2,000shp was chosen to power the DHC 8-200. The PW124 of 2,150shp will be the powerplant in the Fokker 50 while an up-rated version of that engine at 2,400shp has been selected for the ATR72 and the DHC 8-300. Finally, the PW125 of 2,520shp will be fitted in production versions of the BAe ATP.

Atr Enters Service

On September 24th 1985 the ATR42 gained its French and Italian certification (JAR 25). This was followed on October 25th by US certification (FAR Part 25). This then laid the way for the ATR to enter airline service.

The first ATR42 to be delivered was the number 4 aircraft off the line. Registered F-GEGD it was handed over to the French Regional operator Air Littoral in early December. Air Littoral operates a fleet of Bandeirantes from their base at Montepellier Frejorques Airport. On December 9th 1985 F-GEGD operated the first ATR42 commercial service when it flew from Beziers to Paris, Orly.

Cimber Air based at Sonderborg in Jutland, Denmark also took delivery of an ATR42 in December. Number 5 off the line was registered to them as OY-CIA and it was the first of three on order. Delivered on December 21st the ATR was pressed into service in time to carry the Christmas and New Year holiday traffic. Cimber Air are now using its ATR’s to operate up to six return flights daily on the Sonderborg to Copenhagen route replacing the Nord 262s previously used.

Another early operator of the ATR was Holland Airlines who are based in Rotterdam. On January 7th 1986 they operated their first service with the ATR using the number 3 aircraft off the line, which they leased from Air Littoral. Registered PH-HWJ it was initially used on Holland Aerolines routes between Rotterdam and Frankfurt and Rotterdam and Paris, Orly. Holland Aerolines took delivery of the first of three ATRs they had on order in early March when 7H ATR was flown from Toulouse to Rotterdam.

February saw initial deliveries of the ATR42 to Finnair, who have five on order and Brit Air who are based at Morlaix, France. That month also saw the first ATR delivered to an operator in the United States. Command Airways based at Dutchess County Airport, Wappingers Falls in upstate New York was one of the first to order the ATR42. Since placing their order for five ATR42s, Command have become part of the American Airlines dual designator system so their aircraft now carry the American Eagle colour scheme. Number nine aircraft was registered N140DD before departing Toulouse on February 7th en route to Prestwick and Iceland. With Command, the ATR operates in a 46 seat configuration and has replaced the Short 330s on their main route between White Plains and Boston.

The second United States operator to take delivery of the ATR42 was another American Eagle carrier Simmons Airlines. In January 1985 Simmons ordered four ATR42s and since then it has converted two options to orders. Simmons who are based at Negaunee-Marquette County Airport in Michigan centre their operations on Chicago, O’Hare. As an American Eagle carrier Simmons operate a large fleet of Short 360s, Bandeirante’s and YS-11s. In September Simmons ordered a further sixteen Short 360s to make them the largest operator of this type in the world. As the ATR42s and Short 360s are delivered the Bandeirante’s and YS-11s will be withdrawn. First ATR42 for Simmons was number twelve off the line. Registered N420MQ and resplendent in American Eagle colours it departed Toulouse on April 30th for Shannon and Gander.

As of early November 1986 twenty-five ATR42s had been delivered to fifteen airlines in three continents. These operators are: Air Caledonie, New Caledonia; Air Littoral, France; Air Guadeloupe, Guadeloupe; Air Pacific, Fiji; Air Queensland, Australia; Air Mauritius, Mauritius; ATI, Italy; Brit Air, France; Cimber Air, Denmark; Command Airways, USA; Executive Air, USA; Finnair, Finland; Holland Aerolines, Holland; NFD, West Germany; and Simmons Airlines, USAAs of early November 1986 twenty five ATR42s had been delivered to fifteen airlines in three continents. These operators are: Air Caledonie, New Caledonia; Air Littoral, France; Air Guadeloupe, Guadeloupe; Air Pacific, Fiji; Air Queensland, Australia; Air Mauritius, Mauritius; ATI, Italy; Brit Air, France; Cimber Air, Denmark; Command Airways, USA; Executive Air, USA; Finnair, Finland; Holland Aerolines, Holland; NFD,  West Germany; and Simmons Airlines, USA.

Australia and the ATR42

In Australia and the South Pacific, sales and distribution of French aerospace products are handled through OFEMA, who are based in Canberra. Initial airline interest in Australia towards the ATR42 came from Ansett Transport Industries, who were seeking a replacement for tt>eir F27 fleet. While considering the ATR42 Ansett had a commercial association with another of the new ‘super commuters’ that were then coming on the market. This was the Saab Fairchild SF340 whose distributors in Australia Stillwell Aviation had been taken over by Ansett. In late 1983 none of the new breed of commuter airlines had found an Australian or South Pacific operator willing to place a firm order. In the best position were De Havilland Canada with their DHC 8 as they held options from Air Queensland, East West and Talair. Of these operators only Talair have firmed to an order for a single DHC 8. Saab Fairchild announced that they held options on the SF340 from Air Queensland, East West, Kendell and Talair. All have dropped by the wayside except Kendell who took delivery of the first of three SF340s in February 1985. The only other aircraft in the market was the EMB120 Brasilia who had Talair holding a soft option. To date the Brasilia has yet to find a buyer in the South Pacific Region.

In December 1978 the then Bush Pilots Airways took delivery of the first of a number of Swearingen Metro II aircraft they had on order. In October 1970 they added their first F27 when VH-FNM was leased from Ansett. This was followed in January 1982 by another two F27s, VH-FNV and VH-FNW being leased from Ansett. Air Queensland were therefore in the market for a replacement type for their F27 and Metro fleet. When one looks back to mid 1984 and considers the hurdles that Air Queensland and OFEMA had to overcome before the first ATR42 arrived, it is a wonder it ever made it to Australia. Initially, Air Queensland evaluated seven types for their fleet replacement. This was later narrowed down to the ATR42, DHC-8, EMB-120 and the Fokker 50 with the DHC-8 having the front running. In July 1984 Air Queensland withdrew their Metro fleet from service, rationalised their services and added a fourth leased F27 from Ansett, VH-FNU. In September of that year Ansett became the largest shareholder in Air Queensland with 18. 3% of the shares. At the time an Air Queensland team were constantly moving between De Havilland Canada in Toronto and ATR in Toulouse before it was announced in October that Air Queensland would purchase four ATR42-300 aircraft at a cost of $41 million. The sale was dependent on a number of factors which included performance specifications being met on the ATR42 and a guarantee of finance from the Queensland Government. As part of the deal the five Metro’s would be traded in on the new aircraft. Only two months later some doubt was cast on the order when Ansett announced that they were to be launch customers for the Fokker 50. A contract was signed for ten with options on a further five with first deliveries planned for December 1986. In February 1986 TAA made what was to be a successful takeover bid for Air Queensland. TAA’s main aim was to capture the on carriage market at ports where Air Queensland and TAA flights fed into each other. Though TAA, or Australian Airlines as they are now, own Air Queensland and the question of on-carriage passengers had still not been resolved at time of writing Ansett were still handling this section of the market. At the time of the takeover, TAA were evaluating a number of types, including the ATR42, to replace their F27 operations in Western Queens land and on the Townsville to Mount Isa route. The BAe Jetstream 31 was the aircraft that was eventually selected. In April 1985 TAA gave their approval for Air Queensland to continue with their purchase of the ATR42. A contract was signed for four aircraft with options on a further three with first deliveries planned for April 1986.

Air Queensland Atr Into Service

The first ATR42-300 for Air Queensland was number thirteen off the production line at Toulouse. With true Gallic suspicion of that number it was however allocated construction number 12A. Registered F-WWIE for its test and certification flying the ATR was rolled out in a new Air Queensland colour scheme. This in effect was TAA’s basic ‘Look of the Eighties’ with the camel’s hump removed from the tail and Air Queensland titles on the for- ward fuselage. On completion of its test flying the ATR was registered VH-AQC before hand over to Air Queensland on April 11th.

Under the command of Capt. Russ Keanalley, Manager Airline Standards Air Queensland, the ATR departed Toulouse on April 22nd. Delivery routing was via Athens and Bahrain to New Delhi where the aircraft was demonstrated to a couple of prospective customers in Indian Airlines and Vayudoot. From New Delhi VH-AQC continued its journey to Australia via Madras, Singapore and Darwin to Cairns where it arrived on May 1st. Though Cairns is home base for Air Queensland, it had been decided that the first two aircraft would be based in Brisbane where they were to operate on Queensland coastal and central highland routes. After receiving pre-service inspection VH-AQC operated a series of crew training and route-proving flights before flying its first commercial service for Air Queensland. This was flown on May 22nd when the ATR departed the Ansett terminal at Brisbane Airport for Thangool and Gladstone on flight QN302.

Air Queensland’s second ATR42 was number nineteen off the line and it was test flown as F-WWEF before handover as VH-AQD. Under the command of ATR42 Check Captain Charlie Batticciotto, VH-AQD was ferried from Toulouse to Australia via Athens, Bahrain, Madras, Singapore and Darwin to Brisbane where it arrived on May 30th. VH-AQD operated its first flight for Air Queensland on June 12th when it flew Brisbane/Thangool/ Gladstone/Brisbane on QN302/309.

Due to an economic downturn in its area of operations Air Queensland announced that they had decided to defer delivery of their 3rd and 4th ATR42s. These two aircraft which were the prospective VH-AQE and VH-AQF were then offered for dry lease.

In August 1986 Air Pacific announced that after eight months of evaluation, they had selected the ATR42-300 as a replacement for their Bandeirante aircraft. Air Pacific had shortlisted five types – the ATR42, BAe 748-2B, BAe ATP, F27-500 and F50 before selecting the ATR. Until delivery of their own aircraft in late 1988, Air Pacific would lease the ATR42s deferred for delivery by Air Queensland. Training would be carried out in Fiji with Air Queensland converting the Air Pacific crews on the new type.

The first Air Pacific ATR42-300 DQ-FEJ flew into Cairns on November 3rd after its delivery flight from Toulouse. After final checks in the Air Queensland hangar, it continued its journey to Nadi, where it arrived on the 6th. The second ATR for Air Pacific will be DQ-FEK which is the twenty-fifth off the line. It was due for delivery in time to cover the Christmas and New Year holiday traffic.

Flying in the ATR42

Since entering service with Air Queensland both ATR42s have operated flights based in Brisbane. These are to the central highland ports of Blackwater, Emerald and Thangool and to the coastal ports of Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay and Townsville. Schedules effective mid-October showed that both ATRs were well utilised with each aircraft airborne seven hours and averaging nine landings per day.

Six mornings a week one ATR starts its day’s flying in Gladstone with the other in Brisbane. The Gladstone aircraft departs at 0645 for Bundaberg and Brisbane. From Monday thru Friday it operates on the coastal service to Townsville and return. Departure ex Brisbane is 0855 for Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay and Townsville where it arrives at 1340.

The flight south departs at 1405 via the same ports arriving in Brisbane at 1840. Five mornings a week the Brisbane overnight ATR leaves at 0630 for the central highland ports of Thangool, Blackwater and Emerald while four afternoons a week it operates on the triangle Brisbane, Thangool, Gladstone, Brisbane. At the weekends Air Queensland operate the ATR on a morning departure Brisbane, Bundaberg, Gladstone and return while on Thursday and Sunday afternoons it departs Brisbane at 1330 for Thangool, Blackwater, Emerald, Thangool and Brisbane. Finally six nights a week the ATR leaves Brisbane at 1730 for Bundaberg and an overnight stop in Gladstone.

Australian Aviation recently joined an Air Queensland ATR42 flight to see how the aircraft was performing and how it was being accepted by its passengers and crew. The flight we travelled on was QN302/302/309 which operates four afternoons a week on the route Brisbane/Thangool/Gladstone/Brisbane. The aircraft operating the service was VH-AQD under the command of Capt. Bill Kelman with F/O Graham Hood in the right hand seat. In the cabin, were Flight Attendants Judy Dwyer and Lynette Wright. Bill Kelman has been with Bush Pilots/Air Queensland for sixteen years having started on the Cessna 402 and worked his way up through the DC-3, Metro and F27. Bill was full of praise for the ATR and described it as a magic aircraft to fly. Graham Hood had been with the company for five years and had recently moved onto the ATR from the DC-3. When you consider that the two types entry into airline service was nearly fifty years apart a change like this is quite a quantum leap.

Our STD from the Ansett terminal at Brisbane Airport was 1350 and at 1353 we taxied for departure on RW 22. On board were eighteen passengers so there was plenty of room as Air Queensland have the ATRs configured in a 42 seat layout with 32-inch pitch. Our ramp weight was 13,770kg which included 1,400kg of fuel. Planned burn to Thangool was 580kg, which is about 30% better than the F27 on this sector. As we taxied for departure an Eastern Cessna 404, VH-DLF was airborne for Collangatta and all points south to Newcastle. Inbound was a Qantas 767 operating QF25 from Sydney. We were offered and accepted an intersection departure to save waiting for the 767 to land.

At 1358 we were airborne off RW 22 with our initial heading being 270. This was later amended to 330 as we climbed to our assigned flight level of 200. Our departure from Brisbane gave us an ETA over Gayndah of 1437 and Thangool at 1459. Initial impressions of the ATR42 were of its quiet cabin and how it was powering its way with ease to its assigned flight level. At 1413 we were thirty-seven miles from Brisbane and had reached our cruising altitude. IAS was 260 knots though strong westerlies were to give us headwinds all the way to Thangool. At 1452 we started our descent into the Thangool area and once again you had the feeling of power. Thangool Airport serves the nearby communities of Bileola, which is mainly farming and the coal mining town of Mowra. By now we were under Rockhampton area control and they reported no traffic in the area. By 1501 with disembarkation on the ramp at 1507. While we taxied, in the left hand engine was shut down and this allowed the passengers to deplane as soon as we stopped. The right hand engine was put in ‘hotel mode’. This effectively puts a brake on the propeller but keeps the engine idling to act as an APU. At Thangool eight passengers disembarked while fourteen boarded to give us a total of twenty-four in the cabin.

STD from Thangool was 1515 and at 1517 we taxied. Airborne off RW 10 at 1521 we turned left onto heading 034 and climbed to FL90, which we reached at 1527. We were there only four minutes before we commenced our descent into Gladstone. We were advised the only traffic in the area was a P-68B VH-FSH, which was working in the training area. At 1539 we touched down on RW28 at Gladstone and shut down on the ramp at 1541. With nineteen passengers joining in Gladstone, we had thirty four on board for the run down to Brisbane.

Right on the STD of 1600 we taxied from the Gladstone terminal. Airborne off RW1O at 1603 we climbed to FL230. With no traffic delays in the Brisbane Terminal area we were given a straight-in approach on RW22 and had engines off on the ramp at 171O which was five minutes ahead of schedule. Though we were disembarking here the aircraft and crew were continuing on the evening flight to Bundaberg and Gladstone and an overnight stop.

Both the flight and cabin crew were full of praise for the ATR42. Certainly from the passengers’ point of view this is a very pleasant aircraft to fly in. It offers comfort and speed both in the air and on the ground with its in built airstair and no need for any external power source because of the ‘hotel mode’. The ATR42- 300 is proving to be a popular aircraft in the South Pacific Region with orders from Air Queensland, Air Pacific, Air Caledonie and Air Polynesie.