Sellers and lessors placed 23 Fokker aircraft with 12 existing and three new Fokker operators last year, Fokker Services announced in late January. The total comprises 12 Fokker 50s and 11 Fokker 100s. The company said that because various Fokker operators have chosen to retain their fleets longer than anticipated, the number of available aircraft did not grow as expected during the year, leading to fewer placements than in the previous two years.
In Europe, regional carriers Air Vallée, Directflyg and Minoan each added one Fokker 50 to their fleets, while Latin American operators Air Panama and ATSA from Peru added a total of five of the turboprops. Meanwhile, CAA Congo and Kenya’s Skyward have expanded their Fokker 50 fleets with one aircraft each.
In Asia, Kazakhstan Bek Air and Investavia, dba Caspiy, have also expanded their Fokker 100 fleets by a total of five, while in Mongolia Hunnu Airlines increased its Fokker 50 fleet to three. In Indonesia, AsiaLink Cargo decided to supplement its F27 fleet with a Fokker 50 Full Freighter.
Other Asia-Pacific placements included two more Fokker 100s with Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. Air Niugini celebrated 40 years of continuous Fokker operations while expanding its Fokker 100 fleet by one, taking its fleet size to seven.
Finally an additional three Fokker 100s went to two undisclosed operators.
During the third quarter, KLM Cityhopper announced plans to phase out seven Fokker 70s starting in January this year. By late January six aircraft had already found homes with two operators, both new to the Fokker 70.
“Operational versatility, modest fuel burn, low capital costs and continued support are the key drivers why existing operators keep adding to their fleets and indeed why new ones are taking on Fokker aircraft,” said Fokker Services director of aircraft remarketing Peter van Oostrum. “Large-scale implementation of recent product improvements like the installation of RNP 0.3, ADS-B out, light-weight Acro seats or cabin LED lighting, as well as continued high technical dispatch reliability, have all helped in maintaining the attractiveness of the Fokker aircraft.”
