Editing ATR 42 (section)

=== Introduction ===
[[File:98bw - Air Littoral ATR 42-500, F-GPYO@ZRH;19.06.2000 (5363539128).jpg|thumb|An ATR 42 of [[Air Littoral]], which served as the type's launch operator]]

On 3 December 1985, the first production aircraft, designated as the ATR 42-300, was delivered to French launch customer [[Air Littoral]], with the first revenue service, between [[Béziers Cap d'Agde Airport]] and [[Orly Airport|Paris Orly]] airport taking place on 23 December.<ref name="milestones arch">{{Cite web |url=http://www.atraircraft.com/milestone2.htm |title=Milestones |publisher = [[ATR (aircraft manufacturer)|ATR]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017034141/http://www.atraircraft.com/milestone2.htm |date=2006 |archive-date=17 October 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Bénichou |first1=Michel |last2=Roux |first2=Robert J. |title=Fanactualites: 1<sup>er</sup> vols |magazine=Le Fana de l'Aviation |date=January 1986 |issue=194 |page=52 |language=fr}}</ref> During January 1986, already confident of the ATR 42's success and of the demand for an enlarged version of the aircraft, ATR announced that the launch of a programme to develop such an aircraft, which was designated as the ATR 72 to reflect its increased passenger capacity.<ref name="milestones 2017" />

By the end of 1986, the ATR 42 had accumulated a sizable backlog of orders, which in turn led to a ramping up of the type's rate of production.<ref name="milestones arch" /> During August 1988, ATR's marketing efforts in the lucrative North American market resulted in the securing of a large order of 50 ATR-42-300s from US operator [[Texas Air Corporation]]; that same year, another American regional carrier, [[Trans World Express]], received the 100th production aircraft.<ref name="milestones arch" /> On 1 July 1989, ATR opened their new global training centre for the type in Toulouse, which provided centralised and modern facilities for the training to airline staff and other personnel across the world. During June 1999, the ATR global training center became one of the first European institutions to be recognised as a Type Rating Training Organization, as defined by the [[Joint Aviation Authorities]].<ref name="milestones 2017" />

During September 1989, ATR announced it had achieved its original target of 400 sales of the ATR.<ref name="milestones arch" /> That same year, deliveries of the enlarged ATR 72 commenced; shortly thereafter, both types commonly were ordered together.<ref name="milestones 2017" /> Since the smaller ATR 42 is assembled on the same production line as the ATR 72, along with sharing the majority of subsystems, components, and manufacturing techniques, the two types support each other to remain in production. This factor may have been crucial, as by 2015, the ATR 42 was the only 50-seat regional aircraft that was still being manufactured.<ref name="ain nov 2015">Sheppard, Ian. [https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2015-11-08/atr-continues-drive-turboprop-revolution "ATR Continues To Drive Turboprop Revolution."] ''AIN Online'', 8 November 2015.</ref><ref name="lease freight ain" />