Silver Airways (3M, Fort Lauderdale International) says it is planning to begin commercial ATR72-600 operations during the third quarter of this year. The Florida-based carrier is the ATR-600 US launch operator and only recently began ATR42-600 operations.
It said in a recent Department of Transportation (DOT) filing that it is currently in the process of completing ATR72-600 type certification with the US Federal AViation Administration (FAA) and that it is preparing for their debut in September. Thereafter, it expects one more ATR72 to deliver in each of October, November, and December of this year.
Overall, Silver Airways plans to take up to fifty new ATR -600 series aircraft of which twenty have been secured from Nordic Aviation Capital via lease financing. According to the Danish firm, the twenty aircraft include sixteen ATR42-600s and four ATR72-600s.
It expects to use the ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops to eventually replace its entire fleet of Saab (Sweden)s which currently number twenty-one Saab 340Bs.
