In the 1990s the Fokker JetLine family - comprising the 70 and 100 models - was in a fight for supremacy at the top end of a sparsely populated regional jet market with BAe's 146/Avro RJ family. From a purely operational perspective, the Dutch twinjet was arguably the more attractive of the two (it only had two engines for a start), but ultimately - like its British rival - was usurped by new-generation rivals.
Two decades on and the landscape of that large regional jet market looks very different. Embraer's E-Jet is well established as the market leader, Bombardier's CRJ is still fighting its corner, while several all-new "national projects" in China and Russia are also in the mix.
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© Austrian Arrows |
The prospect of a revived 1980s jet being successful looks unlikely. But that has not stopped the Fokker project getting a Dutch government loan.
NG Aircraft's plan, the latest in a long-running revival dream for the Dutch jet, is like the old schemes to reinstate the BAC One-Eleven with Rolls-Royce Tay power. Sadly - but sensibly in hindsight - this project never got beyond a flying prototype.
It's hard to see NG's ambitious proposal having any more success, but it could perhaps lay the ground for a retrofit programme for the almost 300 Fokker 70s and 100s that remain in operation worldwide. We wish them luck.
Source: Flight International
