Why didn't the BAE ATP find more success?

Many people know this aircraft. The British Aerospace ATP was a twin-turboprop aircraft that entered the market in the 1980s. However, by the time production ended, only 64 aircraft were sold. My question is, “WHY?!”. This aircraft was fast, could carry more passengers than the Dash 8, and was a fairly good-looking aircraft. Why did it not find more success?

2 Likes

Wow, only 64 built and it was in production for 8 years? Must have been uneconomical, taking into account the 64 built compared to the Dash 8 with almost 1,200. But it has Pratt & Whitney engines!! It says it was redesigned from another aircraft, so maybe not as popular because the buyers weren’t interested. It looks pretty weird too - the original BAE 146 nose and a weird rear end. It’s only had two notable crashes (both mainly pilot error) and is still in operation. It looks like some popular airlines bought it, but obviously wasn’t a favourite. Couldn’t take many people either, and was smaller than even the Q100.

3 Likes

Norwegian Air Shuttle still has one. According to ArilineReporter

1 Like

I still don’t see why it was so unpopular. It was faster than the Dash 8 and could carry more passengers. Plus it doesn’t look that bad :(

1 Like

Mabey fuel consumption was high.

2 Likes

It couldn’t carry more passengers, it carried less than even the Q100.

2 Likes

Said that above :-)

1 Like

Did you LOOK at the statistics? The Q100 could carry around 40 passengers. The ATP could carry 64.

1 Like

BA used to use it on the Stornoway to Inverness/Glasgow route and I flew on it a number of times. It was a great plane and they used to send it up in all sorts of dodgy weather! I had the pleasure of sitting in the jump seat across to Inverness and back a couple of times while I was on work experience at SYY.

Doesn’t look as good as an Ilyushin 114.

It’s still used as our post plane. Goes from the Isle of Man 🇮🇲 To East Midlands.

Just not very worth for airlines, maybe training was cheaper on the Q400, or operating costs were too high, or it was unreliable… Who knows…

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.