Competition heats up in turboprop market

Competition is cranking up in the world of turboprops. For years turboprops were an ignored corner of the aircraft industry, accounting for about 120 aircraft a year compared with the more than 1,000 jets made by giants Airbus and Boeing. But growing rivalries in the turboprop business cut through a Singapore Airshow depleted by coronavirus this week. While intercontinental jet travel is vulnerable to trade wars and disruptions such as epidemics, regional development in archipelago nations like Indonesia is favouring the turboprop. The market has been dominated for years by Europe’s ATR, jointly owned by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo, which enjoys a relatively undisturbed lion’s share of the market with a small slice also held by the Canadian-owned De Havilland Dash 8. But the commercial arm of Brazil’s Embraer is sharpening a pitch to return to the market and CEJohn Slattery said he expected a decision by the end of the year. “We should be positioned in the mid-to-late fourth quarter to bring a business case with a recommendation to our board,” he said.<br/>