Turboprop manufacturer ATR is confident its planned production ramp-up from this year will generate more aircraft orders in the future by opening up nearer-term delivery slots. Last year, ATR received 60 gross orders from nine customers, which translated to 50 net orders and a backlog of "over 160 units". It had received 56 orders in 2024, up from 40 in 2023. ATR highlights that last year's orders from Taiwanese carrier UNI Air (a subsidiary of EVA Air) and Air Algerie, for 19 and 16 ATR 72-600s respectively, were its largest airline orders since 2017. Its 32 deliveries last year compare with 35 in 2024 and 36 in 2023. ATR had previously intended to increase production following a sharp reduction amid the pandemic, but the plan was delayed amid persisting supply-chain bottlenecks. Hopeful that this year will be a turning point, it aims to lift annual production to around 60 aircraft by 2030. Senior vice-president of commercial Alexis Vidal is optimistic that increased production will not dilute ATR's book-to-bill ratio, which last year reached 1.6. "We will want to continue to sell more [aircraft] and grow the orderbook," Vidal told Cirium at the airframer's 2025 results briefing in Toulouse on 18 February. "As long as the market continues to grow and we continue to demonstrate there is a case for regional mobility, [we] can sell more. To be honest, I think we would sell more if we were already at 40, 50, 60 aircraft [a year]." He believes order numbers will grow with increased production because it will open up delivery slots and provide "faster capacity". "We are, in a way, constrained by supply, but growing, and we have a stronger demand," he says, adding: "I'm confident that we can continue to ramp up production and sell more than 50 or 60 aircraft a year." ATR is in the process of reactivating a second final assembly line, FAL North, at its facility within Airbus's production site at Toulouse airport. FAL North had been dormant since the pandemic. Prior to Covid, the two assembly lines had combined capacity for up to 110 aircraft a year. Today, ATR has no delivery slots for new orders before 2028. Its production peaked in 2015, when it delivered 88 aircraft (and gathered 76 orders). The figures dipped to 80 deliveries and 36 orders in 2016. Deliveries were flat in 2017, but orders grew to 113. The company delivered 76 aircraft and booked 52 orders in 2018. In 2019, its deliveries totalled 68 and orders 79. ATR has been the sole Western regional turboprop manufacturer since De Havilland Canada ended Dash 8-400 production in 2021, focusing instead on aftermarket support and reconditioning of existing aircraft. However, Deutsche Aircraft is developing an updated, stretched version of the Dornier 328, lifting its capacity from 32 passengers to 40. Service entry of the D328eco is targeted for 2027. NEW COMPETITION The end of Dash 8-400 production may have placed ATR in a stronger position, but Vidal highlights that regional turboprops face increasing competition from narrowbodies on routes to secondary airports. "You're not head-to-head against a direct competitor of similar-size aircraft," he says: "What we see [now] is an interesting competition on our side against larger aircraft or ground transportation. "We are in a mobility [environment] that commands us to not just think about the cost per trip or the performance versus a direct competitor, but instead what can we bring to the mobility ecosystem at large by flying much faster than a car or train [and] what is the cost competitiveness we need to achieve for that." Despite the new rivals above and below, Vidal is certain demand for regional turboprops is "clearly strong, and mobility is growing". He adds: "We are here to see the demand, to stimulate it ourselves [and] turn ground transportation into air travel." The turboprops delivered by ATR at its production peak in 2015 and by De Havilland Canada that year are now approaching 12 years of age and therefore suited to "transitioning careers". "We see a very strong market demand for replacement," says Vidal, adding that 70% of ATR's 2025 orders were for replacement. "When we look at the next five years, we believe that even 80% of our sales would be commanded by replacement, just because 12-15 years ago, it was the peak production of the turboprop industry." ATR foresees demand for 2,100 new regional turboprops by 2044, and predicts that deliveries during the first 10 years of the forecast period will primarily be used for replacement.

London City airport has launched a public consultation on plans to introduce a shallower landing approach which could allow larger aircraft such as the Airbus A320neo to operate there for the first time. The proposal would add a 4.49‑degree approach alongside the airport's existing steep 5.5‑degree one, which currently restricts the types of aircraft able to serve it. The new procedure would be enabled by high‑precision satellite‑based navigation and would apply only to authorised aircraft, while most flights would continue adhering to the current approach. If approved, the change would pave the way for aircraft such as the Airbus A320neo, which offers greater seating capacity compared with the aircraft types currently operated at London City, such as the Embraer 195 and Airbus A220. London City says the move would allow it to accommodate future passenger growth with fewer flights overall. It cites estimates that enabling larger, quieter aircraft would result in around 76,000 fewer flights over the next 12 years compared with current procedures. Overall noise exposure would be reduced for some 110,000 local residents. The airport says the change would support growth towards its government‑approved cap of 9 million passengers a year. The proposal could also encourage new airlines and routes. In January 2025, London City said it had applied to the UK Civil Aviation Authority to be certificated for Airbus A320neo operations with a new required navigation performance procedure.

Airlines have begun taking tentative steps to restoring some capacity in airline markets that had been completely shut down by the latest round of fighting in the Middle East. Flight-tracking data shows an increase in flight activity in the region, with passenger aircraft operating over Saudi Arabia, Oman and Jordan at 10:00 GMT, although the airspace above Israel, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar appeared completely empty of civilian traffic. Some of the traffic could be airlines repositioning their aircraft, empty of passengers. Emirates and sister airline Flydubai said they would begin operating "a limited number of flights" from the evening of 2 March. Data from Dubai International shows that around four flights are scheduled to depart the airport per hour until the early evening of 3 March, after which services rise to around eight per hour. Those flights are being operated by Emirates, Flydubai and others. Etihad and Qatar Airways say their services remain suspended in line with airspace restrictions. Oman Air has cancelled a handful of services on 3 March but says others will be operated, albeit subject to delays. From 28 February through 2 March, just over 32,000 flights were scheduled to arrive or depart from the region including Turkiye, Cirium data shows. Of these, around 40% were cancelled. Cancellation or no-fly rates for 2 March ranged from almost total in Qatar, Israel, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain, to 76% in Jordan, 67% in Lebanon, 37% in Oman, and 22% in Saudi Arabia. There are around 900,000 seats per day scheduled to fly to the Middle East from points abroad, and within the region. The resulting backlog in passengers will require a huge effort by airlines to clear, and completion of the task is impossible where airspace is largely closed. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has an active Conflict Zone Information Bulletin stating that there is a "high risk to civil aviation" in the region and that carriers should avoid flying at all airspace levels. This applies to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and is valid until 6 March.