Kevin O'Toole/Stockholm
An official announcement on the selection of a new 70-seat turboprop for the SAS Commuter fleet is imminent, says the Scandinavian airline, with an order expected for as many as 20 Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400s, to be used alongside the existing Saab 2000 50-seaters.
It is understood that an aircraft has been selected, but that the choice has yet to be given official approval by the SAS board and pilots' union. That is due to be cleared soon, says the airline. The overall requirement is being put at up to 40-45 new aircraft, split between 50-seaters and 70-seaters, to come into the fleet over the next five years (Flight International , 2-8 July).
The existing SAS Commuter fleet is based around 22 Fokker 50s, but the airline signed up for the Saab 2000 in mid-1996 after an aggressive campaign by the Swedish manufacturer. Four of the high-speed 50-seat aircraft are already operating out of Stockholm's Arlanda Airport, and another two are on order for early 1998.
Kjell Sundström, director of SAS Commuter's new domestic Swedish operation, outlines an ambition to build a fleet of up to 50 aircraft by 2002 as the low-cost airline is used to develop new routes and raise frequencies. He envisages only two aircraft types - a 50-seater to replace the Fokker 50s and a new 70-seat type. That would slot in to fill a gap below the mainline fleet, which will start at around 100 seats as new Boeing 737-600s come in to replace some Boeing MD-80s and the 16 Fokker F28s which are being phased out over the next five years.
It has not yet been confirmed that the Saab 2000s, taken on five-year leases, will take up the 50-seat slot, but results so far from SAS Commuter suggest that the aircraft's speed has proved decisive. The turboprop is already being used as a slot-in replacement on previous F28 routes and has achieved a 10h per day utilisation. Fuel use and reliability have also been better than the Saab guarantees.
SAS vice-president, fleet development, Kurt Kühne confirms that "-speed is quite important" in the choice now being taken. Although Aero International (Regional)offered a relatively fast ATR 42-500 for the 50-seat role, the ATR72-210A was regarded as too slow for the larger requirement at cruise speeds of around 280kt (520km/h).
Kühne adds that, while the Dash 8-400 at 350kt is able to fill the 70-seat requirement, its sister Dash 8-300 is also slow. Kühne says that regional jets are hard to justify on typical routes of around 550km (300nm), but "-we cannot exclude them for the future," he adds.
Source: Flight International
