FOKKER HAS revealed the configuration of the new 120-seat regional twinjet it is now studying with Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA), Aviation Industries of China and South Korea's Samsung.
The Dutch manufacturer says that the aircraft would supplement the lower end of the Airbus family and the upper end of Fokker's JetLine series of regional airliners. The basic configuration under study offers 120 seats in an all-economy configuration and has a maximum take-off weight of 54,600kg. In its extended-range version, the aircraft will offer a range of 4,800km (2,600nm).
Fokker parent company DASA and its' Asian partners, began a year-long feasibility study, on 15 May. The work is divided among seven project groups reporting to project directors based in Europe and Asia.
The study goals include the selection of a power plant in the 90-106kN (20,000-24,000lb)-thrust bracket.
The partner companies are hoping to run the project as two parallel aircraft programmes, one European-led and one Chinese-led, with a common airframe, but with systems tailored to the needs of the local markets.
DASA wants the European part of the programme to come under the Airbus umbrella, as it has maximum technical commonality with the narrow body Airbus types.
The partner companies hope to bring the regional aircraft into airline service shortly after the turn of the century.
Source: Flight International
