• We examined the future of turboprop airliners Jan. 5, 2015, analyzing the backlogs of Bombardier and ATR--and the ATR overwhelming dominance of the current turboprop sector. This is the second of a series looking at this sector.

By Bjorn Fehrm

Subscription required

Introduction

08 Feb 2015: Passenger traffic is growing the world over on a regional, domestic and international level. For domestic and international airlines the choice of mainline transport aircraft is clear today: there are only two vendors, Boeing and Airbus, and they produce similar products.

For regional transportation there is more choice. First of all, one can chose type of aircraft, turboprop or jet. Within jet, there are several OEMs that are active. The choice in turboprop is more restricted. In practice, the choice stands between the classical turboprop with ATR and a faster type from Bombardier, the Q400 "Prop-Jet" as it is called, as its speed lands between the classical turboprop and regional jet.

The question is, what are the real differences between them in terms of design, passenger comfort and economics and what is the right choice for a market segment? We will take a deeper look into this by analyzing the ATR72 as the classical turboprop, the Bombardier Q400 as the Prop-Jet and CRJ700 as the regional jet.

Summary:

• The ATR72-600, Bombardier Q400 and CRJ700 are all about the same size, around 70-80 seats single class or 60-70 seats dual class.
• They offer different comfort levels, and it is not all about speed.
• In developing the economics in two steps we seek the crossover points between the different types.