First ATR-72-600

From the ATR press release:

ATR officially presented the first aircraft of its new '-600' series. The  aircraft, an ATR 72-600 prototype, was unveiled during a ceremony, which took place in Toulouse, under the patronage of Dominique Bussereau, Secretary of State for Transport, represented by Patrick Gandil, General Director of French Civil Aviation.

From Flightglobal publication ATI: Regional airframer ATR must sell 150 of its new -600 series aircraft to recoup its investment in the derivative. To date ATR has notched up a total of 59 orders for -600 series aircraft - comprising 54 ATR 72-600s and five ATR 42-600s - from seven customers. Royal Air Maroc will become the first operator to take delivery of a -600 in the first half of 2011. Certification is due next year.

More from the press release:

Launched in October 2007, the new '-600' series follows its development phase according to the schedule planned for the two models, the ATR 72-600 and the ATR 42-600, of which the first commercial aircraft will enter into service in 2011. To date, ATR has recorded orders for 59 of these aircraft (5 ATR 42-600 and 54 ATR 72-600).
 
The ATR 72-600 presented today, which started its flight test campaign in July 2009, is fitted with new Pratt & Whitney 127M engines. These new engines provide 5% additional thermodynamic power at takeoff, thus improving performance on short runways, in hot weather and on high altitude. The incorporation of the "boost function" enables use of this additional power as needed, only when called for by the takeoff conditions. Consequently, maintenance costs and fuel consumption are minimized. In addition, these new engines allow the aircraft to increase the single engine altitude by 1000 feet (300 meters).
 
With an aim to increasing the aircraft payload, the maximum takeoff weight for
the ATR 72-600 can now attain 23.000 Kg.

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