Fuel Efficient Turboprop Makes A Comeback

Brussels, Belgium (AHN) - Amid record-high fuel prices and airlines struggling to stay afloat, the propeller-driven planes of old are making a timely comeback.

The fuel-efficient turboprop regional airliner, which consumes a quarter to a third less fuel than equivalent jets, is receiving more attention from an industry once determined to consign them to history.

Tight economic times have revived demand for the propeller craft over the past couple of years. The market research firm Forecast International attributed this to the need to cut costs and reduce fares in the face of competition from low-fare carriers.

The regional sector as a whole experienced something of a boom, with traffic growth estimated at almost 8 percent in 2007, ranging from 3.1 percent in the United States to more than 9 percent in China.

Leading manufacturers of turboprops for commuter airlines, Canada's Bombardier and France's ATR, have ramped up production to 140 of the planes this year, after making 100 deliveries in 2007 compared to only 26 in 2002. The stakes are high for both companies, because analysts predict a requirement of nearly 1,500 regional aircraft from 2007 through 2016 to keep up with projected demand.

With market interest growing, Bombardier is evaluating lengthening its existing 78-seat Q-400 to 90 seats, and its French rival is considering launching a totally new aircraft rather than extend its existing 70-seat ATR-72.

The new models would also have advanced noise and vibration suppression systems and would fly at higher cruising altitudes than their forerunners, offering in-flight comfort levels comparable to jets.

Michael Dyment, an aviation analyst at Nexa Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C., corporate finance group, said that with jet fuel prices 60 percent to 70 percent higher than a year ago, regional jets no longer offer good economics for short-haul flights.

He noted that nowadays, operating efficiency trumps any passenger considerations.