Fokkernews February 2021 (issue 39)

General news

LADE, the Argentinian semi-military airline, has resumed flights between Buenos Aires Ezeiza and Merlo and San Luis using F28 aircraft.

On 28 February 2021 Jetair Caribbean will start operating scheduled flights between Curaçao and Santo Domingo with their F70.

In South Sudan, a new airline seems to have emerged, NDS Aviation. They offer scheduled flights from Jubba to five domestic destinations. Further information is scarce, but it looks as if they are using F50 aircraft from Jubba Airways.

Fokker F27, Fokker 50 & Fokker 60

c/n type registration new registration
10550 500CRF 5Y-SEC Safari Express Cargo. This cargo Friendship performed a humanitarian flight from Mogadishu to Garbaharey, Somalia on 8 Fabruary 2021. It landed on the unpaved runway with strong tailwind, overran the runway and came to a halt just before a stone wall. The 3 crew were physically unhurt and the aircraft was reported not to be damaged.
20130 50 5Y-CIW Bush Air Safaris. Finally this aircraft has been identified. We believe it is operating for Safe Air Company in Kenya and South Sudan.
2018? 50 9S-ABG Gomair. Performed the first commercial flight on 25 December 2020 from Kinshasa via Lisala to Bumba. The c/n should be either 20181 or 20184.
20196 50 9Q-CJB Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation. Confusion has arisen regarding two F50 airframes with the same registration. Scramble recently reported that 20196 was involved in a ground incident at Goma on 14 July 2015. According to our database, this airframe was already broken up in 2013 at Kinshasa-N'Djili.
20205 50 9Q-CJB Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation. In view of the delivery date in 2014, it is more probable that c/n 20205 was involved in the ground incident at Goma on 14 July 2015, where it was extensively damaged. So we believe that the F50 being reported as broken up at Goma in October 2019 must have been this aircraft.
20210 50 JU-8250 Aero Mongolia. After Aero Mongolia decommissioned their F50 fleet in June 2017, two aircraft went to Leascor in the Philippines, the third one remained unsold. According to the most recent map in Google Earth this F50 is still stored at Ulaanbaator airport (47.842703, 106.776212).
20257 50 JU-8257 Aero Mongolia. Was damaged beyond repair in a take-off incident at Oyu Tolgoi airstrip in southern Mongolia on 30 Mar 20212 and its fate was uncertain since. On Google Earth, just few meters from the position of 20210 at Ulaanbaator airport we found a hull that could very well be the remainings of the accident F50.
20288 50 2-VGAS 5Y-JNR Silverstone Air Services. The route of the delivery flight was Curacao- Freeport-Halifax-Goose Bay-Keflavik-Malmö-Heraklion-Karthoum-Nairobi, from 14 to 21 February 2021.
122 F-27F HC-BHD Petro Ecuador. After many years in the open air, the F-27 is now at the University of the Armed Forces ESPE, in the south of Latacunga city.

Fokker F28, Fokker 70 & Fokker 100

c/n type registration new registration comment
11074 1000C TC-52 LADE. Made the inaugural flight of the new connection between Buenos Aires and Santa Rosa de Conlara as 5U100 on 28 January 2021
11303 100 VH-FZH Virgin Australia. Registration cancelled 1 February 2021, the aircraft was broken up at Seletar.
11340 100 YR-FKA Carpatair. Registration cancelled December 2020. The aircraft is stored in Arad.
11545 70 VH-JFE Alliance Airlines. This F70 is carrying large 'Reds official airline partner' titles for advertising a 3-year sponsor contract with the Queensland Rugby Union, locally known as the Reds.

Gomair performed the first commercial flight on 25 December 2020 from Kinshasa via Lisala to Bumba, using their F50 9S-ABG.The c/n is still unknown, but should be either 20181 or 20184. The aircraft is now painted in full Gomair livery (Nino Parasmo via Congo-Zaire Aviation on Facebook; Kinshasa-N’Djili, 31 January 2021)

 

Kenyan airline Renegade Air, which until now operated a fleet of Cessna 208 and different Dash-8 types, has recently added two F50s. On lease from Skyward is 5Y-SMQ (11202) in an attractive color scheme (Renegade Air on Facebook; Nairobi-Wilson, 4 February 2021), showing its registration in the insert. Another picture on the internet, which is unfortunately not fit for reproduction here, shows a second Renegade Air F50 with the suitable registration 5Y-RNG (20120)

 

Over the years Compagnie Africaine d’Aviation lost two F50s, both in Goma. The accident with 9Q-CJB (20205) in July 2015 saw no injuries, but the airframe was a total write-off. What remained of it was still laying at the airport when this picture was made. (Amiri Delion on Google; Goma, December 2019)

 

Back in March 2012, Feeder Airlines ST-NEX (20248) had a landing accident at Wau airport, in the present South Sudan. A recent picture on Google shows that the wreck is still lying next to the runway. (Ach King Lual on Google; Wau, January 2021)

 

In 2017 the government of Peru signed a contract with Israel Aerospace Industries for converting two Peru Navy VIP transport F50s into SIGINT platforms, for electronical signals intelligence. The job was transferred to Fábrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) and AE-567 (20253) arrived as the first aircraft for the conversion in the FAdeA workshops at Cordoba airport, Argentina. FAdeA has extensive experience with Fokker airframes, as they are maintaining the Argentina Air Force F27 fleet. (AeroCOR on Twitter; Cordoba, 18 September 2020)

 

Silverstone Air Services newest F50 5Y-JNR (20288) was seen preparing for its ferry flight to Kenya, still in full Insel Air livery. (Larry Every; Curaçao, 1 February 2021)

 

Another new Somalian F50 operator is Daruro Airline. They carried out a humanitarian mission with this hitherto unknown, all-white 5Y-WFD (c/n unknown). (Mustaf Abdirahman on Twitter; Huddur, 18 January 2021)

 

Niger Airlines operates this F50 in new colors with a Nigerien registration, 5U-NAA. Most likely it is one of the two Palestinian Airlines F50s that were on long-term lease to Niger and were recently offered for sale (20123 and 20143), but we currently do now know the tie-up. (Aviation Graphix on Facebook; Niamey, 5 September 2020)

 

Alliance Airlines F70 VH-JFB (11521) now carries a large decal promoting the upcoming concert tour by ‘Paul Kelly and Friends’. (Tourismman on Flickr; Brisbane, 20 February 2021)

 

Credits

All photographers, Air-Britain News, Aviation Herald, Aviator.aero, David Booster, Frank Ellemers, Larry Every, Google, Mark Gould (Air-Britain News), Greg Hyde, Thomas Jung, Luchtvaartnieuws, Marius Oaci Nkina, Scramble, Skyliner, Jacques Vooren, Henk Wadman.