Pacal Pavani | AFP | Getty Images
An ATR 42-72 of French low-cost Hop! airline company flies after taking off from the Toulouse-Blagnac airport, near Toulouse, on October 19, 2017.
The Toulouse-based company — a joint partnership between Airbus and Leonardo — said that it predicted sales of over 1,000 aircraft in Asia over the next 20 years.
“This region accounts for more than a third of the worldwide market. We see the worldwide market for turboprops to be in excess of 3,000 airplanes, so the math is simple — it’s over 1,000 airplanes over the next 20 years,” Scherer said.
The chief executive also brushed off those who claimed that turboprop engines were past their expiration date in the era of jet engines.
“Let me correct that misconception, the turboprop engine first of all, is driven by turbo machinery just like jet engines,” Scherer explained. “And the fact that it’s driving a propeller, allows it to offer fuel efficiency that is 50 percent greater than that of a conventional jet engine. So you can imagine that fuel efficiency represents a major economic bonus for the turboprop aircraft.”
