Leonardo has reached a new, important and historic milestone with the delivery to the ATR consortium of the fuselage for the fifteenth century aircraft. The ceremony, which took place today in Leonardo's Pomigliano D'Arco (Naples) plant, was attended by representatives of the institutions, the top management of Leonardo, of ATR and the employees involved in the program. "The commercial success of the ATR demonstrates how the aircraft's performance, its operational flexibility, service economy and reduced environmental impact still constitute - more than 30 years from the start date of the program - a reference point for regional air transport industry thanks to the excellent design characteristics and also to the continuous technological updates made ”, declared Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo. "This significant achievement", added Profumo, "once again demonstrates Leonardo's excellence in the civil aeronautics industry and the sites of Southern Italy, where highly qualified resources operate". "The success of ATR worldwide reflects the continued commitment of our shareholders to the program," said Christian Scherer, CEO of ATR. "Today we can proudly say that our aircraft are operated by 200 airlines in around 100 countries. The contribution of Leonardo in the last ten years, in which we have doubled the production of the fuselages and satisfied the growing needs of the market, is important for our position as market leader. We congratulate all the employees for having reached this important milestone together and to continue building the future of regional aircraft ". The fuselage of the one thousand and five hundred ATR will leave the production line of the Leonardo di Pomigliano D'Arco plant in the next few days, where it was built and will be sent to Toulouse, home of the Italian-French ATR consortium. The assembly will be completed in France and the aircraft will finally be delivered to the Japan Air Commuter customer, whose top management attended today's ceremony. With around 1.700 orders and over 1.400 delivered, the ATR is among the most successful commercial aircraft in the history of civil aviation. Every eight seconds there is an ATR that takes off or lands in the world. Since the start of the program, ATR aircraft have completed over 30 million flights. ATR, which boasts a solid order backlog equal to the equivalent of three years of production, is the leader of the regional turboprop aircraft market from the 2010, with around 75% of all orders made for this category of aircraft. The new ATR-600 series are equipped with a new cockpit featuring digital avionics and the most modern navigation assistance tools. The ATR-600 are the aircraft with the lowest fuel consumption in the category, the best cost-effectiveness ratio and the lowest operating and maintenance costs. The ATR -600 also feature the new "Armonia" cabin, specifically designed in Italy by the designer Giugiaro and featuring larger hatches, larger and lighter seating areas and LED lighting to provide maximum comfort for the passenger. Leonardo's role in the ATR Leonardo program is a partner of Airbus in the ATR joint venture since the launch of the program. For all ATRs, Leonardo realizes the entire fuselage, fully equipped, and the vertical and horizontal tail feathers, the latter in composite material. The fuselage is built and assembled in the Pomigliano d'Arco plant, while the tail fletching is produced and assembled at the Foggia plant.
