The propeller plane manufacturer ATR opens its doors to us in Toulouse
Behind the giant Airbus, there is in Toulouse a more discreet player on the general public scene despite 40 years of existence and a status of world leader in turboprop aircraft. Born from the union of Airbus with the Italian Leonardo, ATR, recognizable by its propeller-driven aircraft, specializes in the niche of short-distance regional aircraft. Mainly focused on passenger traffic, the company has recently turned to goods, with cargo offering more prospects for stables.
ATR employs a thousand people in Toulouse: the majority at its headquarters in Blagnac, around 400 on its assembly line in Saint-Martin-du-Touch and a few dozen in Francazal in its innovation hangar.
Recovery in sight
At headquarters of Blagnac, hundreds of engineers are working and ATR has installed a brand new showroom for customers. Designed during the pandemic, it provides access to samples, so to speak, of aircraft: seats to test, cockpit to observe, various models, presentation films and other animations highlighting the low consumption of ATR engines, face to those of the competition.
We are aiming for 38 deliveries this year, 50 in 2025 with two years of orders ahead of us. Pre-Covid production was 70 devices per year, the crisis has not passed but on tremors in our former favorite areas of Southeast Asia and Latin America. We are very optimistic. — Frédéric Torréa, General Secretary of ATR
On the assembly line, in Saint-Martin-du-Touch, on the Airbus site, ATR is installed in one of the oldest aero factories in Toulouse, the one from which the famous Caravelles originated at the time. From now on, about forty propeller-driven aircraft are produced each year, through the assembly of components from all over the world: the engine is Canadian, the propellers are from Lot, the fuselage Italian or the sail from Bordeaux.
ATR has also just received the brand new XT engine from Pratt & Whitney, an engine capable of consuming no longer 40% less than the competition, but 45%. The first two copies have just arrived in Saint-Martin-du-Touch.
Green plane and SAF
The runway, delivery center and flight tests are carried out on site in the Airbus airport area. Finally, ATR has two recently renovated sheds in Francazal. Here, the manufacturer is working on its innovations, particularly around its brand new baby, the ATR 42-Stol. The device is capable of landing on long runways of only 800 meters.
All ATR aircraft are equipped to fly with 50% sustainable fuel, SAF (sustainable aviation fuel). Objective 100% in 2025 but this sustainable fuel, made from recycled cooking oils is not produced enough on a global scale.
Present during this visit, the President of the Region Carole Delga also announced a new plan of 65 million euros for the next three years in favor of the green plane, in addition to the previous envelopes voted. They will be used in particular to work on these questions of SAF. With its next hydrogen campus which should be operational at the end of 2024 in Francazal, the Region hopes to be able tor create an ecosystem and in a way make equipment and researchers (CNRS, Onera) capable of making progress on these subjects available to industrialists.