Cost of fuel prompts turboprop comeback __________________________________________________
news.yahoo.com
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, said Michael Dyment, an aviation analyst at Nexa Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C., corporate finance group.
"Nowadays, operating efficiency trumps any passenger considerations," Dyment said.
The world's remaining 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. This compares with only 26 in 2002.
"There has been a clear reversal of trends in the regional airline business over the past three to four years," said Richard Maslem, an editor of Airliner World, a British trade magazine. "Airlines that only a short time ago were championing the cause for the regional jet and suggesting the end of the line for turboprop models are now having to eat their words." |
