Today Marks 33 Years Since The First Flight Of The ATR 72

The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop regional airliner developed and produced in France by the plane manufacturer ATR.

The ATR 72 was developed as a stretched version of the 42 series first introduced in 1984.

The maiden flight of the 72 was flown on 27th October 1988 and Finnair became the first operator in the following year.

The number ‘72’ in its name is derived from the aircraft standard seating configuration which can seat 72-78 passengers in a single configuration.

Three airlines in the Maldives operated using ATR models with Villa Air Flyme and Manta Air using the 72 series.

Villa Air has two ATR 72-200 models and one 72-600 while Manta Air operates with three ATR 72-600 series airplanes.

The Series 600 comes with new PW172M engines with a flight deck featuring 5 wide LCD screens.

All of the ATR series models are completed in the final assembly line in Toulouse, France and with more than 1,000 72 series models sold it’s among the most popular regional airliners in the world.