On June 25, ATR disclosed the decision by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to acquire a fleet of 10 ATR 72-500s plus options for 10 additional aircraft. The contract, valued at US$183 million, has been inked in the presence of His Excellence Abdullah Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister.

The aircraft are intended for the expansion of Firefly - subsidiary airline 100% owned by MAS - which will establish its hubs in Penang, Subang, Yohoar Baharau, and Kota Kinabalu. The ATR aicraft will progressively replace the current Fokker 50 aircraft fleet of the airline.

These 72-seat aircraft will be equipped with the "Elegance" cabin, Light Emitting Diode (LED), Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) as well as the newest technological innovations in passenger comfort, communications and navigation tools. Deliveries will start in 2008.

With this deal, ATR reaches its 900th new aircraft sold (416 ATR 42s and 484 ATR 72s) since the beginning of the programme. This order also marks an outstanding year to-date, with 63 new aircraft sold in the first half of 2007. In six months, ATR has already reached the same quantity of total orders posted during 2006, which was also an outstanding performance for ATR. Since the beginning of the programme, ATR has delivered 730 aircraft (394 ATR 42s and 336 ATR 72s), and posts a current backlog of 170 aircraft.