ATR 72 ATR 72-500 (-212A)

Behind the 500 and 600 series lies a single certified model, the ATR 72-212A, approved in January 1997. The 500 series was its first marketing name, and its main novelty over the -210 is the six-bladed propellers on otherwise identical PW127F engines, which cut cabin noise and vibration. Added to that are higher maximum weights, better overall performance and greater automation of power management to ease pilot workload.

The -500 was the version that established the ATR 72 as the dominant regional turboprop of its size. Empty weight is 12,950 kg, it keeps the 22,000 kg maximum take-off weight, cruises at 510 km/h and reaches 772 nautical miles (1,430 km) with a full cabin. In September 2018 ATR reported 365 delivered, with more than 350 in service at 75 operators.

From the -500 came the corporate version with a luxury interior and much of the freighter conversion work — Bulk Freighter and ULD Freighter — that absorbed the type's first generation when airlines began replacing it with the 600 series. The prototype of that 600 series was itself a converted -500.