DAT - Danish Air Transport (Kolding) is looking to acquire used ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops and Airbus A320 family jets to replace ageing aircraft, but has no plans to expand its fleet, CEO Jesper Rungholm told Air Transport World (ATW) on the sidelines of the European Regions Airline Association general assembly in Belfast last week.

"We are looking at fleet renewal," he said. "We are buying anything [ATRs and Airbuses] that comes up with the right price tag."

He said DAT is only looking at used aircraft: "We have a number of very old aircraft [ATRs] that need to be retired in the next three to five years," he said. "We may actually have the oldest ATR in the world, in production serial number 36."

He said a pair of A320s will be retired over the next two years and will need replacing. If well-priced A321s come up, DAT could opt for the larger variant.

"Let's put it this way: If somebody comes with an aircraft that is really, really nice and the price is absolutely perfect, we'll buy it whether we need it or not," he clarified.

Beyond this, Rungholm has no plans to expand the carrier's fleet. "We're not looking to grow," he said. "We are quite happy as it is, but we need fleet replacement."