PRESS RELEASES

The archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon receives its first ATR 42-500

14^th October 2009	Print this article
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Air Saint Pierre took delivery today of the first ATR 42-500 that will be operated in the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The aircraft, ordered in 2008 by SAEMAI (Société Anonyme d’Economie Mixte Aéronautique des Iles/Mixed Business Aeronautical Company of the Islands) is equipped with new PW 127M engines and will replace the ATR 42-320 which has been operated by the company for the last 15 years.

Due to the special operating conditions of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the ATR 42-500 had to be tested and certified to be able to operate in cross winds reaching up to 45 knots at takeoff and landing (instead of the 30 knots already certified).

Air Saint Pierre ATR 42-500 in flight

The aircraft delivered today has a basic configuration for 46 passengers but may also be used exclusively for cargo or for mixed operations. In the latter case, two supplementary cargo containers installed at the front of the aircraft authorize an additional load of 4.4 m3 together with 30 passengers at the rear.

Stéphane Artano, President of SAEMAI and President of the Territorial Council of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is very satisfied as

“the archipelago has purchased its first ATR 42-500 to improve the service offered by Air Saint Pierre to the inhabitants of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The Territorial Council is particularly pleased to have supported this major business case for our islands”.

Rémy Briand, Chief Executive Officer of Air Saint Pierre, said that he was

“very pleased to receive the first ATR 42-500 of the company, as it will enable us to offer our passengers a much higher level of comfort as well as a larger load capacity”. And he added: “We operate our fleet within a public service delegation convention with the State to serve the archipelago by air, and for many years ATR has been acknowledged as the right choice to respond in an optimal manner to our public service mission”.

Stéphane Mayer, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, underlined

“the performance of the ATR 42-500, is now certified to operate under even more extreme meteorological conditions. We offer a very reliable family of aircraft, which have been tried and tested in the most hostile environments. Thanks to their operational flexibility, our aircraft adapt perfectly to very variable conditions, both in terms of temperature and in terms of runway layout, notably short and unprepared runways”. And to conclude: “This flexibility is also characterized by the possibility of converting these aircraft very quickly, changing them from “all passenger” to “all cargo”, or to a “mixed” configuration, in less than two hours”.

The ATR-500 series:

The ATR 42-500 and ATR 72-500 are aircraft combining technology with unequaled quality of comfort. The six-blade propeller produces a remarkably low level of noise. All ATR models comply with the regulations in force, notably with regard to noise disturbance, which is lower than the new standards (chapter IV-ICAO). The ATR -500 series offers the lowest fuel consumption per passenger and the lowest CO2 emissions of regional aircraft, which contribute to making ATR the “green player” in regional aviation.

About SAEMAI:

Mixed Business Company, in which the Territorial Council of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is the majority shareholder, was founded in April 1985 to acquire or lease aircraft to serve the needs of the archipelago. The SAEMAI facilitated the acquisition of the ATR 42-320 operated by Air Saint Pierre.

About Air Saint Pierre:

Airline founded in March 1964 and based at Saint-Pierre in the Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon archipelago (25 km off the coast of Newfoundland in the north-west of the Atlantic Ocean), Air Saint Pierre is a limited company offering domestic and international flights to and from the city of Saint Pierre. Montreal, Halifax, St. John’s Newfoundland and Sydney (Nova Scotia) are included amongst its destinations. Its fleet also includes a Cessna F406.

About ATR:

The regional aircraft constructor ATR, whose headquarters is in Toulouse, is the world leader in the 50 to 74-seat turboprop market. ATR is an equal partnership between Alenia Aeronautica (Finmeccanica Group) and EADS. In 2008, ATR posted a record turnover of 1.3 billion dollars. ATR is ISO 14001 certified, the world wide standard for the environment.

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