Fokkernews January 2025 (issue 85)

General news

No general news this month.

Fokker F27, Fokker 50 & Fokker 60

c/n type new registration registration comment
10201 200 G-BCDN Ex-Air UK. Further to the news item in our previous edition, the City of Norwich Aviation Museum has now announced that this Friendship will be repainted into the yellow/black Air Anglia livery as part of its transformation into a classroom and meeting venue.
10660 500 5Y-*** PK-KRJ Ex-Asialink Cargo Express. After 8 years of storage this cargo Friendship has been sold to a Kenyan operator and will soon fly to its new home land.
20119 50F 5Y-JWY Jetways Airlines. Seen at Nairobi-Wilson 7 January 2025 with large 'Fokker Freighter' titles on the cargo door, similar to 5Y-JWB and 5Y-ELY, now in green colors.
20121 50 5Y-WFA Buff Air. The fuselage was severely damaged during a heavy landing at Nairobi-Wilson in October 2024 and this F50 is a complete write-off.
20141 50 P-4401 Indonesian Police. Scramble assumes that this F50 was withdrawn from use in 2023. Confirmation and current storage location are most welcome.
20203 50 5Y-IFY I-Fly Air. Recent info shows that this is an ex-Bluebird Aviation F50, so former 5Y-VVH is the sole candidate. Finally one of the East African mystery F50s identified.

Fokker F28, Fokker 70 & Fokker 100

c/n type new registration registration comment
11020 1000C TC-53 Argentine Air Force. After over one year of storage this venerable F28 made three testflights during late December 2024 and on 2 January 2025 it flew a roundtrip from El Palomar Air Base via Córdoba, Salta and Reconquista as FAA01, still in the grey livery that was applied in 2021 (see Fokkernews 45).
11206 4000 PK-GKS Merpati. The remains of this Fellowship were offered for sale as scrap back in June 2023. The aircraft was in a very poor condition. The offered lot comprised two other F28s that were unidentified, but presumably 11171 (PK-MGH) and 11199 (PK-MGM). The aircraft were stored in Tangeran, close to Jakarta-Sukarno Hatta airport. In view of the asking price it is highly questionable if the sale was successful.
11321 100 5Y-SKF Skyward Express. The delivery route deviated from the initial flightplan, which was mentioned in Fokkernews 84. After take-off from Woensdrecht stops were made at Luxembourg, El Alamein and Addis Ababa and the F100 reached its destination Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta on 23 December 2024.
11399 100 VH-NHP Network Aviation (Qantas Link). On 10 January 2025 flight QF1613 from Geraldton to Perth stopped climbing shortly after take-off and returned to Geraldton due to a minor technical problem. It made a safe landing about 55 minutes after departure. The captain announced vibrations at the left hand side of the aircraft, which remained grounded for six days.
11497 100 EP-AWZ Karun Airlines. Flight KRU2681 from Sirjan to Tehran-Mehrabad on 20 January 2025 blew tires on landing at Tehran and stopped on the runway with substantial damage. None of the 109 occupants was injured. The Iranian CAA later reported that vibrations occurred at departure and the pilots continued the flight. At landing severe vibrations were felt again, the F100 shimmied on the runway and spun to the right. At inspection of the runway at Sirjan several parts, separated from the left-hand main gear, were found. After take-off the pilots noted that the flaps were not working and they had to make a high-speed flapless landing at Mehrabad, but failed to inform air traffic control. After touching down two tires separated from the left-hand gear, necessitating replacement of both gear struts.
11551 70 P2-ANY Air Niugini. Cancelled from the register in December 2024. The F70 was stored at Port Moresby since early 2020 and was broken up in 2024. Air Niugini currently has only a single F70 operational together with five F100s.
unknown 100 unknown According to CH-Aviation Jetways have added the first F100 to their fleet, but so far we do not know which aircraft this is; maybe 5Y-SKF mentioned above?

Fokker 50 5Y-CHK (20114) is believed to operate for ARA Airline, a recent Somalian startup. Unfortunately the aircraft has no colors nor titles showing the operator. (André Alders; Nairobi-Wilson, 3 January 2025)

 

After delivery from Indonesia in 2022 and over two years of inactivity, Jetways Fokker 50 5Y-JWY (20119) was recently seen doing engine test runs at Wilson airport. The F50 has its large cargo door painted in green with the text ‘Fokker Freighter’ on, whereas the right hand side is all white. (airwatcher.ke; Nairobi-Wilson, 12 January 2025)

 

For commemorating the airline’s 18th anniversary, Busy Bee Congo adorned their F50 9S-AHT (20137) with a large sticker on both sides. (Busy Bee Congo; Goma, 2 December 2024)

 

Twelve years after the aircraft was withdrawn from use, this is all that remains of Kish Air EP-LCG (20236). (Dara Zarbaf; Kish, 11 December 2024)

 

Also in the dump area of Kish airport is the fuselage of Qeshm Air EP-FQA (20274) in very fainted colors. See the note on sistership EP-FQC (20275) in Fokkernews 84. (Dara Zarbaf; Kish, 11 December 2024)

 

These remains of Merpati Fellowship PK-GKS (11206) were offered for sale as scrap back in June 2023. See also the comment in the table above. (Fauzibadariyan; Tengeran, 7 June 2023)

 

Fellowship A-2804 (11234) was the last active F28 of the Indonesian Air Force; it was withdrawn from use in 2023. Its condition looks good, so it might be preserved for posterity. (Ihdar Raihan Yudanta; Jakarta-Halim Perdanakusumah, 15 December 2024)

Credits

All photographers named above, Carlos Abella, Airfighters.com, André Alders, Amcar, Arnold Begeman, Aviation Herald, Aviation Safety Network, Davey van Broeck, Gonzalo Carballo, CH-Aviation, Frank Ellemers, FlightAware, Walter de Groot, Al Gunn, Jan Homma, Greg Hyde, Planespotters.net, Scramble, Jacques Vooren, Henk Wadman.