Aer Arann gets its first ATR 72-600

 Aer Arann has successfully taken delivery of its first ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft. The aircraft is the first of eight ATR 72-600s ordered by the airline in a contract valued at some US$ 187 million. Seven other planes are scheduled to be delivered in 2013 and 2014. These eight brand new airplanes will replace the older existing fleet of ATR 72-200s and ATR 42-300s. With 3 ATR 72-500s currently in service the new planes will bring to 11 the total fleet of ATRs operated by Aer Arann. The first plane starts service this month, with the remaining aircraft expected for delivery over the next 11 months. The aircraft will fly in the livery of Aer Lingus Regional, based on a franchise relationship between Aer Arann and Aer Lingus.

Combined with the existing routes operated from airline’s bases in Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Knock, the airline will open up 2 new routes departing from Dublin to Manchester and Birmingham which should bring the airline’s route network to 24. Together with existing Aer Lingus mainline services to Manchester and Birmingham, these new services will result in a significant ramping up of frequencies on two of the busiest routes on the Ireland to UK network. Also, Aer Arann plans to increase frequencies on its Dublin Edinburgh and Dublin Glasgow routes.

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