Page 23 - AAA SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2012 Online Magazine

FEATURE TURBOPROPS

A growing appetite among indian
carriers to serve regional routes makes
india a potentially big market for
turboprops too. india’s first order for
Bombardier’s Q400 nextGen turboprop
aircraft was made by budget spiceJet in
2010, for 15 for Us$450 million at list price.
With a fleet of 12 Q400s, the airline has
been fast expanding its domestic footprint
by aggressively tapping tier two and three
cities in india. With traffic numbers small,
narrow-body aircraft have been unable to
fill seats at smaller airports that the 70-
to 80-seater Q400 can.
The reason for choosing the turboprop
was clear. “As india experiences
substantial growth, many cities and
industrial towns remain underserved,” growing Cebu pacific on its shorter routes. ATR 72-500 Cebu
said kalanithi maran, Chairman, spiceJet. “We intend to create unique city pairings Pacific landing at
“spiceJet is focused on connecting across the country connecting secondary Caticlan Airport
these burgeoning areas with more than airports. We remain confident that these
60 airports that could not be served by initiatives will further promote local travel
larger jets. After an evaluation of all the within the philippines and in the region,”
aircraft in the 60- to 80-seat category, we Lance Y. Gokongwei, president and Ceo of
selected the Q400 nextGen aircraft, which Cebu pacific says. pioneering the service
combines excellent reliability, economics on its Boracay and Laoag flights, it has
and passenger comfort.” since expanded its turboprop operations
spiceJet plans initially to use the to destinations such as siargao, naga and
Q400s on grossly underused low- to Busuanga (Coron), among others.
medium-density routes – about 250 Airlines like Bangkok Airways have
routes remain unused in india – as they indicated that service-wise, turboprops
are not profitable to run with narrow-body make it easier to offer more frequency.
aircraft. in the non-metro sector, 133 For instance, in Laos where the runway
routes have fewer than one frequency a at Luang prabang was recently upgraded
day. “spiceJet’s order was a breakthrough to handle jets, the airline still decided to
for our Q400 nextGen turboprop in the continue operating two ATr turboprops a
indian market, and Bombardier’s portfolio day rather than just have one flight a day
of commercial aircraft and customer using an A320. Turboprops still win out on
services continues to be well positioned short distances.
to support the development of india’s “our fleet of ATr 72s is playing
airline network,” said Chet Fuller, sVp of a major role in the development and
sales, marketing and Asset management, democratisation of the aviation services in
Bombardier Commercial Aircraft at the indonesia, bringing new travel possibilities
time of the first delivery.

Flexible friends THE BETTER OPTION?
The other plus turboprop aircraft bring is Turboprops are reliable workhorses and an economical alternative to jets.
flexibility in landing field access. The typical Efficient at flight speeds below 450 mph (725 km/hr) because the jet velocity of
configuration – high wing, dirt-resistant the propeller is relatively low, they are mostly used where high-performance
engines and tough landing gear – make short-takeoff and landing capability and efficiency at modest flight speeds are
them perfect for less developed airports. required, as in regional and remote airports. Compared to a turbojet, which can
ATr landing gear is specially designed fly higher for enhanced speed and fuel efficiency, a turboprop has a much lower
for airports that have unpaved runways ceiling. ATR and Bombardier Q series are tapping the Asian market aggressively.
and is used by carriers such as fast-
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