ATR recieves FAA certification for ATR 42-600 and the ATR 72-600 aircraft

ATR announced (29-Apr-2013 ) the newest ATR '-600 series' aircraft have received their certification from the US FAA. The certification applies to both the ATR 42-600 and the ATR 72-600. It will enable the entry into service of these new aircraft in countries requiring FAA rather than European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification. Thanks to the cooperation between the two agencies, the FAA relied in part on the work done by EASA to grant certification to the two models of the ATR '-600 series'. All of the tests done by EASA, supplemented by the flights conducted by the FAA test pilots, were used to validate proper operation of the new systems and equipment installed onboard the aircraft, notably its new avionics suite. ATR CEO Filippo Bagnato stated that obtaining the new certification will allow the turboprop aircraft manufacturer to expand the commercial and operational scope of its family of aircraft. ATR is "convinced that the FAA certification is going to open doors for us in high-potential markets, to replace turboprop aircraft from previous generations as well as jets, which are less and less cost-effective." Since the new ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 programme was launched in Oct-2007, ATR has received orders for more than 300 aircraft from the new series. At present, almost two thirds of the under-90-seat regional aircraft on order the world over are ATRs from the new "-600" series. [more - original PR]