Turboprop airliners existed much before fast-paced jets came on the horizon. They will continue to. Though some aviation pundits not long ago, forecast that turboprops would become obsolete, they have been proven wrong. Turboprops continue to flourish and the debate ‘what is good for regional airliners: jets or turboprops’ is a never ending one. The latter may look old with propellers on their wings, but they have been given a new avatar, escalating the competition for the jets.

At the turn of the century, Brazilian aerospace major Embraer stopped making its turboprop EMB-120 Brasília, switching entirely to producing jets, setting off a debate on the future of turboprops. While Embraer changed lanes, ATR never gave up and continues to focus on its turboprop strength. So does Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier which has a mix of turboprops and jets. ATR that proclaims ‘proud to be turboprop’ states that one of the current and future challenges faced by airlines is controlling fuel costs and that turboprops offer the best solution for regional aircraft.

Basically, both turboprops and jets are turbine powered, except that turboprops have bigger fans on their wings, while the pure jets have fans encased. The turbine used on a turboprop is designed specifically for the application and burns much less fuel. Technology-wise the two are in a neck and neck race. Some of the turboprop airliners are fitted with radar, GPS, heads-up display, noise reduction equipment, etc.

Burns Less Fuel

The unique selling proposition of a turboprop is that it burns much less fuel per passenger. On short haul flights with flying time of about an hour, turboprops offer bang for the buck on fuel economics. It has been reported that an ATR 72 consumes half the fuel of a regional jet for a distance of 300 nm and in these days when fuel accounts for almost 40 per cent of operating costs at least in some parts of Asia, the fuel economics of a turboprop seem attractive. According to ATR, brand new turboprops on short routes can achieve five per cent savings per year of operation. There are significant cost advantages in turboprops where labour rates are lower in terms of crew and ground support.

While fuel savings is good, turboprops have come under the scanner for capacity and capability when regional airlines are flying longer distances. Nevertheless, turboprops having got an early lead, account for over half of all regional aircraft deliveries in the 50- to 70-seat configuration. ATR has said that in the 70-seat segment where most competition today takes place, 75 per cent of aircraft ordered since 2005 are turboprops and about 92 per cent of the 70-seat backlog are for turboprops These are clear indications of their market domination in the US and elsewhere too.

Seat Dynamics

The seat configuration dynamics is throwing up new regional strategies with 50-seat jet coming in for competition by 70-seat turboprops. This means that for the same money, airliners get 20 more seats flying at half the fuel cost per seat. In the 70-to 110-seat category, the trend is towards jets such as those from the Embraer stables. Till date, ATR has delivered 1,056 turboprops. At the Singapore Air Show in February 2014, it had bookings for 48 aircraft, beginning the year on a healthy note. In 2013, it ended with a total of 195 aircraft sold, 89 firm orders and 106 options.

Bombardier’s Dash 8 or Q Series (Q100 and 200 Series – 39-seat capacity; Q300 – 50-seat and Q400 – 90-seat capacity) have been in the forefront of turboprop orders. Bombardier stopped production of the Series 100 in 2005, and the Q200 and Q300 in 2009. Bombardier is considering launching a stretched version of the Q400 most likely in 2015.

Regional Jets Racing Ahead

While these developments are happening, fast-paced and efficient regional jets are altering the economics of aviation. Although more expensive than turboprops, regional jets allow airlines to operate passenger services on routes not suitable for turboprops. Turboprop aircraft have lower fuel consumption and can operate from shorter runways than regional jets, but have higher engine maintenance costs, shorter ranges and lower cruising speeds. When world oil prices drove up short-haul airfares in 2006, an increasing number of airlines that had bought regional jets began to reassess turboprop regional airliners, which use about 30 to 60 per cent less fuel than regional jets.

The reason for the turboprop revival is simple. - continuously rising price of aviation turbine fuel. Filippo Bagnato, CEO of ATR states that the turnaround began when crude rose above $35 a barrel in the years following the Iraq war. Planes powered by jets are faster, but for flights of less than around 500 nautical miles, the shorter time spent in the air is insignificant compared with the fuel savings to be made by flying a slower turboprop. As it has become increasingly uneconomic to fly regional jets with fewer than around 70 seats, the turboprop has come to look like a better option. There seems little chance of oil going back down to the levels that had for a while made their fuel efficiency unimportant.

Technology Upgrade

As for the question of noise and discomfort, the manufacturers of turboprop airliners have devoted considerable effort into improving the quality of the cabins of their airliners and in particular in reducing noise and vibration. Bombardier uses noisecancellation technology, whereas ATR uses insulation and fancy electronics to synchronise the propellers.

The Teal Group, an aviation consultancy, forecasts a market of around $2 billion a year for turboprops from now into the 2020s, a nice little business, though still a fraction of the market for jets.

Bigger is Better

“There was a time when there was a clear need for smaller planes like the turboprops, but I think the Indian market has outgrown the need for such planes,” said Mark Dunnachie, Vice President, Asia-Pacific, Embraer Commercial Aviation. The E2 will also score over bigger jets. “The E-195-E2 jets will be at least 20 per cent cheaper in terms of trip costs as compared to the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320. Even the cost of operating an E-175-E2 will be cheaper in terms of trip costs as compared to the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320 and also cheaper in terms of trip costs as compared to turbo-propeller aircraft. The cost of operating an E-175-E2 will be cheaper per seat mile as compared to turbo-propeller aircraft,” said Dunnachie.

The Bombardier Q400 can carry 68 to 78 passengers while the ATRs have a capacity of 50 to 70. The Embraer E-175 can carry 80 passengers while the E-190 and the E-195 can carry 110 passengers.

For now the market is clearly favouring larger regional jets, which drove the changes to the Mitsubishi MRJ with the MRJ-100 x 100 seater. Even so, the MRJ-70 and MRJ-90 could further stretch the regional catchment. The 90- to 150-seat regional jet market is becoming increasingly crowded with Russia, Japan and China jumping into the fray.

Future Favours Turboprops

What remains unclear with fuel and environmental standards putting pressure is whether the market will continue with larger regional jets or combine jets and turboprops. ATR thinks not and is predicting that it could become a market leader again since all the pressures on regionals certainly conspire in favour of turboprops.

“The reduced margins from 10 to 14 per cent to four to six per cent will push regionals to select the right aircraft so the turboprop will play an increasing role,” said Mario Formica, Vice President, Marketing of ATR at a recent Regional Airline Association conference, predicting a need for 2,950 new turboprops at a value of $71 billion. “The 2000 forecast saw a market that was 15 per cent turboprops and 85 per cent regional jets. But, 10 years later we see turboprops will be 40 per cent of the market potential for a better balance between regional jets and turboprops. In the last five years sales in the 50- to 70-seat category bear this out with 560 turboprops to 140 regional jets. It is clear that a lot of airlines are rethinking their approach to turboprops.”