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ow cost carrier Citilink Indonesia says that it has ordered 50 twin turboprop French-Italian Avions de Transport Regional ATR 72-600 aircraft to expand its domestic and international flight services.

Prior to selecting the 72-seat ATR, the airline had considered procuring Canadian-made Bombardier Q400s.  

Citilink CEO Arif Wibowo said the airline would accept delivery of the aircraft until 2017, with the first five to be delivered in September.

“The five aircraft that we are going to operate this year will be based at our hub in Batam [Riau Islands], connecting that city to cities in Sumatra,” Arif told The Jakarta Post from Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday.

He said that the airline would provide service from Batam to international destinations such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

Arif also said that the airline would likely rely on foreign pilots for the first two years until enough local candidates completed initial flying school training and were type-rated for the ATR 72-600.

The manufacturer of the ATR has agreed to provide pilots and maintenance technicians.

Contacted separately, Citilink vice president for communication and marketing Aristo Kristandyo said that putting the turboprop planes into operation would give the airline a competitive boost.

“Indonesia has a huge aviation market that is large enough for every operator to enjoy. By operating both Airbuses and ATRs, we will be able to tap into the whole market segment, strengthening our position in the country’s aviation industry,” Aristo told the Post.

The airline will also announce this month that it would open hubs for the ATR 72-600s in several other cities.

Aristo said that Citilink was scheduled to take a delivery of 10 new Airbus A320s this year, which will increase its Airbus aircraft numbers to 30 by the end of 2013.

With the new aircraft, the airline plans to expand service to more cities and to increase frequency on existing routes, such as Jakarta-Surabaya, Jakarta–Medan, Jakarta–Denpasar and Jakarta–Makassar.

“For the new route, we plan to connect Batam to Palembang [South Sumatra] starting on Jan. 10,” he said, adding that the airline was still struggling to get a slot to link Palembang and the capital city.

He said that Citilink estimated that it would carry 7.2 million passengers with its Airbus fleet alone in 2013, almost double the 4 million passengers the airline transported in 2012.