ATR 72

ATR 72
An ATR 72-202 in Eurolot livery
Role	Regional airliner
National origin	France/Italy
Manufacturer	ATR
First flight	27 October 1988
Introduction	27 October 1989 (Finnair)
Status	In service
Primary users	Wings Air Azul Linhas Aereas Air New Zealand Link Mount Cook Airline
Produced	1988–present
Number built	906 as of January 19, 2017
Unit cost	72–600: US$24.7 million (2014)
Developed from	ATR 42

The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional airliner manufactured by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. It was developed as a stretched variant of the ATR 42, and entered service in 1989. It has been typically employed as a regional airliner, although other roles have been performed by the type such as corporate transport, cargo aircraft and maritime patrol aircraft. Successive models of the ATR 72 have been introduced; a single aircraft can seat up to 78 passengers in a single-class configuration.

The ATR 72 was developed from the ATR 42 in order to increase the maximum seating capacity (from 48 to 78) by stretching the fuselage by 4.5 metres (15 ft), increasing the wingspan, adding more powerful engines, and increasing fuel capacity by approximately 10 percent. The 72 was announced in 1986, made its maiden flight on 27 October 1988 and Finnair became the first airline to bring the aircraft into service a year later on 27 October 1989.

In most configurations, passengers are boarded using the rear door, (which is unusual for a passenger aircraft) as the front door is used to load cargo, although Finnair ordered their ATR 72s with a front passenger door so that they could utilize the jet bridges at Helsinki–Vantaa Airport, and Air New Zealand's standard rear door aircraft can use jet bridges at airports with this equipment. A tail stand must be installed when passengers are boarding or disembarking in case the nose lifts off the ground, which is common if the aircraft is loaded or unloaded incorrectly.

The ATR 72 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW100-based turboprop engines with four or six-bladed propellers supplied by Hamilton Standard. Earlier ATR 72s were equipped with the PW124B engine rated at 2400 shp, whilst later aircraft were equipped with the PW127 rated at a maximum of 2750 shp for improved "hot and high" takeoff performance.