Silver Airways (3M, Fort Lauderdale International) is planning to begin ATR - Avions de Transport Régional (EVX, Toulouse Blagnac) operations during the second quarter of the year, ch-aviation analysis of schedule data has revealed.

Research indicates the US regional carrier will deploy an ATR42-600 into service on May 23 on daily return flights between Huntsville International and Orlando International. Further deployments are expected to be announced over the coming weeks.

Silver Airways signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Franco-Italian manufacturer for the acquisition of up to 50 new ATR-600 series aircraft in August last year. Of the 50, 20 were secured by Silver Airways via lease financing.

According to Nordic Aviation Capital, the 20 aircraft include twelve ATR42-600s and three ATR72-600s that were recently ordered from ATR while the remaining five - four ATR42-600s and one ATR72-600 - are sourced from its existing ATR orderbook.

The first aircraft is due to deliver to Silver Airways in March with the remainder expected to arrive through to 2020.