National airline Maldivian received its third brand new ATR on 2nd April 2023. It is also the first ATR 42-600 to join the fleet.
The new ATR 42-600 departed this afternoon on the very first commercial flight, operating to Kadhdhoo Airport. One of the key reason's to add the shorter variant to the fleet is that majority of the airports in the Maldives consists of short runways which limits the operating capacity of the larger 72-600.
The ATR 42-600 was launched on 2 October 2007 and first flew on 4 March 2010, and was first delivered in November 2012. It is the shorter version of the ATR 72 with a seating capacity of 48 passengers.
Under the domestic fleet change, Maldivian placed an order for 3 ATRs receiving the first two in January of this year. Over the course of the next two years, the carrier is planning to replace the entire Dash8 fleet with ATRs.
The total acquisition cost of the three aircraft is reportedly USD 60 million (MVR 925 million) which is paid through a loan. According to Maldivian Managing Director Mohamed Mihad; the airline will be adding 3 more ATRs by the end of 2023 for a total of 6 ATRs.
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