Saab Aircraft Leasing is evaluating extending the certificated hours on its Saab 340 fleet.
Chief executive Michael Magnusson told delegates to this week's US Valuation conference, organised in Washington DC by Flight International's sister title, Commercial Aviation Online, that the 340 fleet is certificated under the Maintenance Review Board programme to 60,000h and 90,000 cycles, with the leading aircraft having clocked 55,495h.
However, he said, the maintenance programme could be extended by 15,000h to 75,000h. "We need to see if they are any changes needed in the maintenance plan, but we are not ready to disclose yet."
Saab is discussing the topic at its annual operator conference in Florida this week.
Magnusson added that Saab is looking at modernisation of its 340 fleet, including changes to the cabin interior and the systems: "The challenge is to come up with a cost effective product that operators can accept."
Source: Flight International
