Toulouse, France - Bangkok Airways (BA), the SET-listed full-service airline, on Wednesday took delivery of the first of nine regional aeroplanes ordered from European turboprop maker ATR. Bangkok Airways president Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth (left) and ATR chief executive Patrick de Castelbajac shake on the deal in the cockpit of the Thai airline's first ATR 72-600.
Delivery of the ATR 72-600 turboprop in a ceremony held at ATR's Toulouse facility in southern France marked the start of a major fleet renewal in decades for Bangkok Airways, which is taking place a month after the airline's public fund-raising exercise.