In a ceremony organised in Toulouse, Air Algérie has taken delivery of the first ATR 72-500 of the four it ordered in 2009.
Air Algérie, which already operates eight ATR 72-500s, will increase the size of its fleet to 12 with the delivery, during 2010, of the remaining 3 aircraft on order. Consequently, Air Algérie will become the largest ATR operator on the African continent.
The four new aircraft, all configured with 66 seats, will enable Air Algérie to optimise its service by offering more frequent flights and by opening new routes, in particular to regions in the south of the country and to countries in the Mediterranean basin.
ATR is also providing assistance to Air Algérie for the installation, commissioning and operation of a new flight simulator, which is part of the airline’s plans to open a training centre for its pilots in Algeria.
Abdelwahid Bouabdallah, president and managing director of Air Algérie, declared, “Numerous years of operation have revealed that the ATR 72-500 is well adapted to the specific features of our domestic network, comprising operations at high temperature. With this addition of four aircraft to our fleet, we will improve and diversify our offer to passengers, within the framework of our public service mission, while maintaining the lowest operating costs.”
“Air Algérie is a model of network development to remote regions, providing high-quality public service. We are proud to have Air Algérie as one of our customer airlines and to see that this year they will become the largest operator of our aircraft in Africa,” declared Stéphane Mayer, chief executive officer of ATR.
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