ATR (French: Avions de Transport Régional, Italian: Aerei da Trasporto Regionale, lit.

[4] The company was founded in 1981 as a joint venture (known as an Economic Interest Group or GIE under French law) between Aérospatiale of France (now Airbus) and Aeritalia (now Leonardo) of Italy.

[6] During the 1960s and 1970s, European aircraft manufacturers had, for the most part, undergone considerable corporate restructuring, including mergers and consolidations, as well as moved towards collaborative multi-national programmes, such as the newly launched Airbus A300.

In line with this trend towards intra-European cooperation, French aerospace company Aérospatiale and Italian aviation conglomerate Aeritalia commenced discussions on the topic of working together to develop an all-new regional airliner.

Prior to this, both companies had been independently conducting studies for their own aircraft concepts, the AS 35 design in the case of Aerospatiale and the AIT 230 for Aeritalia, to conform with demand within this sector of the market as early as 1978.

On 3 December 1985, the first production aircraft, designated as the ATR 42-300, was delivered to French launch customer Air Littoral; the first revenue service was performed later that same month.

[14] In order to maintain a technological edge on the highly competitive market for regional airliners during the 1990s, several modifications and improved versions of the ATR 42 were progressively introduced.

[9] Performing its maiden flight on 16 September 1994, and awarded certification by the British Civil Aviation Authority and France's (DGCA) during July 1995;[9] the -500 model was an upgraded aircraft, equipped with new PW127 engines, new six-bladed propellers, improved hot and high performance, increased weight capacity and an improved passenger cabin.

On 31 October 1995, the first ATR 42-500 was delivered to Italian operator Air Dolomiti; on 19 January 1996, the first revenue service to be performed by the type was conducted.

During July 2004, ATR and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer announced a cooperation agreement on the AEROChain Portal for the purpose of delivering improved customer service.

[23] ATR lowered its output to 80 deliveries a year from 2017 and boasts a nearly three-year backlog after FedEx Express' November 2017 order.

[28] An optimized turboprop running on SAF would be supplemented by a mild hybridation during the take-off and climb phases for a 20% lower fuel burn.

[30] On November 13, 2024Turboprop aircraft maker ATR declared that it would scrap its development of a new model designed to take off and land on short runways and instead concentrate instead on its existing portfolio.

[31] This project was undertaken in 2019, where it announced its plans to develop a unique version of its smallest model to squeeze in and out of airports with runways as short as 800 metres (2,600 feet).

[43] Leonardo preferred a clean-sheet 90-100 seater with new turboprops, wings and cockpit available soon but Airbus favoured a medium-term introduction with disruptive hybrid electric engines, structural advanced materials and automation.