Berjaya Air Signs Contract to Purchase 4 new ATR 72-500s

In conjunction with the LIMA Airshow 2007, ATR and Berjaya Air, a subsidiary of Berjaya Land Berhad today signed a US $ 74 million contract for the purchase of 4 new ATR 72-500 aircraft. The contract was signed by Datuk Razman Md Hashim, Chairman of Berjaya Land and Christophe Potocki, President of ATR Eastern Support, and witnessed by the Honourable Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato’Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak. Earlier this year, at the Paris Airshow in June 2007, a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed for the acquisition of these 4 aircraft.

With the acquisition of the new aircraft, Berjaya Air will strenghten its position as a regional turboprop operator in the region. The new ATR 72-500s will be delivered in 2009 and 2010 in a 72-seat configuration and will be equipped with the new “Elegance Cabin” and with state-of-the-art technological innovations in the field of communications and navigation aid tools.

The new ATR 72-500 aircraft will replace Berjaya Air’s existing fleet of 48-seater Dash 7 aircraft and would subsequently help to improve Berjaya Air’s financial performance in terms of lower maintenance cost and increase in seating capacity. Furthermore, these new ATR aircraft will allow Berjaya Air to expand its network.

At the signing ceremony, Datuk Razman Md Hashim stated: “With the brand new '-500 series' ATRs, Berjaya Air will be updating its fleet of aircraft featuring the most modern modern available technology in the fields of aircraft performance and passenger comfort. With the “Elegance” cabin of our ATRs, our passengers will experience a substantially enhanced comfort while flying to our main destinations of Redang Island, Tioman Island and Koh Samui ”. And added: “The ATR 72-500s will allow us to increase the total capacity of our fleet and lower our operating costs”.

Commenting on the signature, Stéphane Mayer, ATR CEO, declared: “We are delighted with the confidence of Berjaya with the ‘-500 series’ ATR aircraft, which feature unrivalled economics and maintenance costs, thus representing the optimal choice for the short-haul operations and the renewal of the previous regional aircraft fleets”. Mr. Mayer also underlined the importance of the Southwest Asian market, where “we see a demand for up to 100 ATR aircraft in the next few years”.

Since the beginning of the year, ATR has received orders for 88 new aircraft, some of them not yet unveiled. Since the beginning of the programme, ATR has sold 925 aircraft (416 ATR 42s and 509 ATR 72s) and has delivered 746 (396 ATR 42s and 350 ATR 72s), thus posting a current backlog of 179 aircraft.

With its ATR 42-500 and ATR 72-500, ATR supplies state-of-the-art aircraft with the highest standards of comfort. The advanced six-blade propeller provides remarkably low noise levels. Low fuel burn and gaseous emissions contribute to make the ATR environment friendly. All ATR models are compliant with noise regulations and have a large margin with regard to Chapter IV (ICAO) noise regulations, effective 1st January 2006.

Berjaya Land Berhad is a company listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange, Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad, with interests in property investment and development, vacation timeshare, hotels, resorts and recreation development and gaming.

Toulouse, Southern France-based regional aircraft manufacturer ATR is the world leader in the 50 to 74-seat turboprop market. ATR forecasts revenues of around US$1 Billion in 2007, representing two successive years of 30% increase in turnover. ATR is an equal partnership between Alenia Aeronautica (Finmeccanica group) and EADS. ATR is certified NF EN ISO 9001:2000 and AS 9100 revision B:2004 / JIS Q 9100:2004 / EN 9100:2003, the worldwide quality standard in the field of aeronautics.

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