NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE
Japan Air Commuter (JAC) will announce an order in the coming months for new turboprop aircraft to replace its 12 NAMC YS-11s.
The carrier is considering the Bombardier Dash 8 Q300/400 and ATR 42/72. The Bombardier CRJ is also being considered but is seen as an unlikely choice due to runway restrictions at some airports to which the 60-seat YS-11s operate.
Industry sources in Japan say the Q400 turboprop is the current favourite, partly because the Dash 8 is already in service in the country and has Japanese certification.
JAC, a subsidiary of Japan Air System (JAS), aims to replace all of its YS-11s by 2006, when civil aviation regulations will require traffic alert and collision avoidance systems (TCAS) to be installed on domestic aircraft, which would be costly to install on the YS-11s.
The country's only other airline still operating YS-11s is Air Nippon, with six in service. It has already decided to replace the aircraft with Q300s, the first of which was due to have entered service at the beginning of July.
The 30-year-old YS-11 represented Japan's initial attempt at breaking into the international civil airframe market. Production ceased in the early 1970s, by which time 182 YS-11s had been made. Around 70 remain in service.
Source: Flight International
