ATR, the regional turboprop builder co-owned by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo Group, views the near future with growing confidence. “We will deliver roughly the same number of planes this year as in 2016, or about 80 aircraft,” said Christian Scherer, who has served as CEO of ATR since November 2016. He was addressing a recent press event with a group of French aviation journalists.

Revenues for 2017, he said, would total about $1.8 billion, the same as in 2016. The manufacturer claims a 70 percent share of the world market, compared with its only competitor, Canada’s Bombardier, which delivered 33 Q400s in 2016. The new CEO of ATR wants to reinforce its commercial advantage, and to replenish the production backlog. The manufacturer has collected firm orders and letters of intent covering 110 airplanes since the beginning of the year. ATR did not disclose the exact firm order count, but the CEO emphasized that the book-to-bill ratio in 2017 will reach at least 1, which indicates firm sales of at least 80 airplanes compared with just 36 in 2016.

One of ATR's successes of 2017 came with the August 1 purchase commitment by Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Silver Airways covering 20 ATR 42-600s, along with options for up to 30 ATR 72-600s, valued at some $1.1 billion. Five aircraft already form part of ATR’s portfolio at Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC). ATR has agreed to sell the remaining 15 to NAC for lease to Silver Airways. Under the agreement, the first four aircraft will arrive in Florida during the last quarter of this year.

This contract marks the return of ATR to the U.S. market, where it hasn’t sold an aircraft for 20 years. “It is extremely important to return to the United States, where the market is evolving favorably again for turboprop regional aircraft,” said Scherer. “We hope that regional markets that have been closed in the past will open again." ATR also counts on aircraft such as the Saab 340, which Silver Airways currently operates, reaching obsolescence, as a driver of -600 series demand. In an effort to boost its support presence in the U.S, ATR recently opened an office in Miami and equipped it with a flight simulator.

The company also wants to reach out to China, which it considers the world’s second largest market for ATRs with an estimated demand for 300 to 400 turboprop airliners over the next 10 years. At June’s Paris Air Show, ATR signed letters of intent with two Chinese investors, Tianju Investment (for 10 ATR 42-600s) and Xuzhou Hantong Aviation Development (for three ATR 42-600s). The contracts remain subject to an agreement between the aviation security authorities of the European Union and those of China. In India, another main outlet for turboprops, low-cost carrier IndiGo signed a letter of intent to buy up to 50 ATR 72-600s.

Scherer reaffirmed that ATR shareholders continue to study the launch of a larger ATR, probably carrying 90 to 100 seats and with updated engines. “There are several possible scenarios, such as engine improvement, or the use of other breakthrough technologies,” he said. ATR now offers two aircraft: the 48-seat ATR 42-600 and the ATR 72-600, which can hold as many as 78 seats. Developing a new model would cost at least €1.5 billion, according to some sources close to the company, because of the complicated nature of certification compared with the effort involving the -600 series. Of the two partners in the ATR consortium, Leonardo appears more amenable to a full-scale launch, “while Airbus sees the ATR program as more secondary in its overall strategy,” said Scherer.