After three difficult years linked to the effects of the global air transport crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic, ATR returned to growth in 2023. Against the backdrop of industry-wide disruption, ATR delivered a total of 25 new aircraft and 11 used aircraft in 2022. ATR's global in-service fleet, on the other hand, is close to pre-Covid figures, with 1,200 aircraft in the air and an order backlog totaling 160 aircraft. 

ATR's global fleet back in the air at 80%

"Like many other aircraft manufacturers, because of the Covid crisis and then the conflict in Ukraine, our subcontractors had supply problems on certain components and raw materials such as steel," says Nathalie Tarnaud Laude, ATR's executive chairman. "The crisis in Ukraine has also resulted in a price increase that affects a large part of our subcontracting chain. So we had a very tense year in the subcontracting chain, and we also had a tense year in terms of reacquiring human resources to bring up our production rate and hiring certain skills," she continued. "We delivered 25 aircraft last year, but we had planned to deliver more than 30. But we have some positive elements since we are almost back to profitability. We had a very good year in terms of support and services where we had record revenues at over $350 million. The 1,200 aircraft that returned to flight in 2022 represent more than 80% of the global ATR fleet," she enthused.

Major technology milestones achieved by ATR in 2022 

"Over the course of 2022, we passed a number of milestones on some very important developments. We continued the development of our STOL aircraft (Editor's note: Short Take Off and Landing: aircraft adapted to take off and land over short distances) and we did our first tests at Francazal. We have also launched a feasibility study on our EVO hybrid electric aircraft project for 2030. With Pratt & Whitney, we have obtained certification for the PW127XT engine, which is more fuel-efficient and, above all, more economical in terms of maintenance, with gains of around 20% that are greatly appreciated by our customers. We also obtained certification and the right to operate in China. And we finally achieved the first 100% SAF flight on an aircraft, made available to us by a commercial airline, Sweden's Braathens Regional Airlines (BRA) in June 2022."

ATR's ramp-up ambitions for 2023 

For the current year, ATR intends to ramp up strongly. "We have a target of more than 40 deliveries this year. And the idea is to reach in the second part of the decade more than 80 annual deliveries, that's our ambition," says Nathalie Tarnaud Laude, ATR's executive chairman. "During the Covid crisis, our overall workforce dropped from 1,400 to 1,200 people, and we aim to rehire 150 people this year, to get back to around 1,350 people by the end of 2023, with 80% of our hiring ambitions for production staff. But we are hiring in all the company's businesses to accompany our rise to power."