Browsing Tag: ATR-72

A ray of hope in the darkness of European flying sitting on the ground at Prague's Ruzyne Airport. - Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter

A ray of hope in the darkness of European flying, sitting on the ground at Prague’s Ruzyne Airport – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter

No matter where in the world, when you fly economy on a small turboprop, you likely are not going to have high expectations. This will just be some basic transportation to get from point A to point B. I was shocked when I recently flew an Air Serbia ATR-72-500 from Prague to Belgrade.

Often, flying in Europe can be an even-less-pleasant experience than flying in America. When I landed in Europe, after my not-so-stellar international experience, I said to myself, “I bet you Air Serbia can beat this.” And they did!

Lao Airlines ATR 72

Lao Airlines ATR 72

Lao Airlines was founded in 1976 when Royal Air Lao and Lao Air Lines were merged. At that time, the new airline was known as the Civil Aviation Company. In 1979 the airline’s name was changed to Lao Aviation and retained that name until more recently when it was formally changed to Lao Airlines. The company is based at Wattay International Airport in Vientian, Laos and is fully owned by the Laos government.

The airline operates four ATR-72-500s and four Xian MA60 aircraft. Lao Airlines previously operated an Airbus A320 from 2003 to 2005 and now plans to take delivery of an Airbus A319 in November to start flights to Singapore.

The livery is simple and works. Although many airlines wear flowers on the tail, this livery has a blue background and titles clearly on the front of the aircraft. The livery looks a bit plain on the larger A320, but might work better on the smaller A319.

Image: Shmat