Fokkernews November 2022 (issue 59)

General news

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will not authorize prolonging the joint-venture between Virgin Australia Regional and Alliance Airlines for fly-in-fly-out services to the mining and resources industry. The ACCC has concerns that lack of competition is not in the interest of the Australian public.
The CAA of the Republic of Niger has grounded Niger Airlines because of safety concerns. Currently, the airline operates a single F50. The airline has appealed, as it considers the CAA decision "a radical measure".

Fokker F27, Fokker 50 & Fokker 60

c/n type registration new registration comment
10295 400 5Y-SEP Tracep Congo Aviation. Seen at Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta 15 November 2022, all white. This raises the question whether this Friendship is still waiting for transfer to Congo or the deal fell through.
10370 500 5Y-CCE Icon Aviation. This aircraft was damaged last June and was noted at Juba on 15 November 2022; apparently repaired.
20110 050 5Y-SKN Air Kasaï. This F50 was again involved in an incident, when it was struck by lightning being some 1.5 hours in flight from Kinshasa-N'Djili to Setif, Algeria. The crew decided to return to Kinshasa and made a safe landing. No injuries were reported.
20119 050F 5Y-JWY Jetways. First noted in Kenya 10 November 2022 in hangar at Nairobi-Wilson. Seen there 20 November 2022 with logo and large Freighter titles.
20147 050E 5Y-GMS Aerospace Consortium. Noted all-white on a cargo flight on behalf of I-Fly on 12 November 2022 at Mogadishu.
20151 050 5Y-IFL I-Fly Air. Seen flying actively from Nairobi-Wilson from 9 to 16 November 2022.
20160 050 VH-FKO Alliance Airlines. The aircraft was broken up in Adelaide and useable parts were put in a shipping container for Air Panama. Registration cancelled 25 November 2022 as destroyed.
20162 050 HP-1793PST Air Panama. After 2.5 years of storage, the F50 returned into service on 24-09-2022 flying from Panama City to Enrique Malek.
20168 050E 5Y-SMN Silverstone Air Services. This all white F50 is active again; noted at Nairobi-Wilson and Juba 9 and 15 November 2022, repectively.
20191 050F 5Y-JWG Jetways. Seen Nairobi-Wilson 10 and 12 November 2022, still with red tail.
20203 050 5Y-VVH Bluebird Aviation. Seen at Nairobi-Wilson airport 9 and 14 November, now all white.
20214 050 5Y-WFD Saacid Airlines. Seen in active service 12 November 2022 at Mogadishu, now without title and only tail logo.
20243 050 5Y-WFB Buff Air Services? Noted at Mogadishu 12 November 2022, now without titles, so the lease to Xeyd Air Services has probably ended. The current operator requires confirmation.
20247 050 7P-ALI This hitherto unknown F50 is allegedly belonging to the fleet of Mohahlaula Airlines, a charter operator in Maseru, Lesotho, but ownership is still unconfirmed. The all white aircraft was seen active for an unknown operator in Juba on 15 November 2022.
20249 050 5Y-FAS Freedom Airline Express. Noted on Nairobi-Wilson aiport 9 and 13 November 2022, being worked on. It carries the basic Freedom Express livery with small Daruro Airlines titles and logo under the cockpit, so presumably it is being prepared for a future Daruro charter in Somalia.
20261 050 6O-JAF Jubba Airways. Seen in active service at Mogadishu on 10 and 12 November 2022, in full Jubba Airways colors. It is unclear whether it is operated by revived Jubba Airways or another operator.
20282 050 5Y-FAI Freedom Airlines Express. The collision with the ground power unit on 25 September was not at Mogadishu as previously mentioned, but at Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta airport. The aircraft was seen intact on 13 November 2022 at Nairobi-Wilson, looking ready to fly.
20303 050 VH-FKV HP- Air Panama. Delivery flight from Adelaide via Alice Springs, Broome, Surabaya, Penang, Bangalore, Al Ain, Luxor, Belgrade, Luxembourg, Keflavik, Goose Bay, Halifax, Nassau to Panama City from 27 October to 4 November in basic Alliance Airlines livery as SXI2250. The ferry took no less than 57 hours and 10 minutes. Registration cancelled on 25 November 2022.
20306 050 VH-FKW HP- Air Panama. The third and last ex-Alliance F50 left Australia on delivery to Panama 29 November 2022 as SXI2256. Routing was from Adelaide via Alice Springs, Broome, Surabaya, Penang,
20312 050 VH-FKX Alliance Airlines. Just like sister ship VH-FKO above, the airframe was scrapped at Adelaide and useful parts prepared for shipping to Air Panama. Registration not yet cancelled at the time of writing.
20335 050 ST-DNP D6-AIB R'Komor expanded their small Embraer EMB-120 fleet with a Fokker 50, leased from Mid Africa Aviation (Sharjah, UAE). The F50 was registered on 31 October 2022 and landed for the first time on the Comoros on 6 November 2022. It is going to serve destinations in Tanzania, Kenya, Mayotte and Madagascar.
unknown 050 5Y-FAD Freedom Airline Express. An as yet unidentified F50 is the third of the type in the Freedom fleet, mainly operating in Somalia.
unknown 050 6O-YAS Maandeeq Air. Seen in active service at Mogadishu on 10, 11 and 12 November 2022, in full colors. Identity remains unknown.
unknown 050 6O-AAE This white F50 was seen in a hangar on Mogadishu airport 12 November 2022. Who is the operator and what is the identity?

Fokker F28, Fokker 70 & Fokker 100

c/n type registration new registration comment
11229 4000 5Y-EEE Fly-SAX. Noted at Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta 15 November 2022, stored.
11307 100 5Y-SIA Salaam Air Express. Seen at Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta airport 15 November 2022, no longer on the cargo ramp, but near terminal 2.
11316 100 VH-FWH Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. Performed its last revenue flight on 26 October 2022 from Busselton to Perth as VA9282. Ferried 28 and 29 October from Perth via Port Hedland to Singapore-Seletar as VA9947 for scrapping.
11373 100 VH-FNU Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. On 10 November, flight VA9081 from Perth to Boolgeeda experienced a technical issue immediately after take-off. Staying at 5,000 feet, the crew burnt fuel and returned to Perth for a safe high-speed landing. It later appeared that there was an issue with the flaps indication. No injuries among the 4 crew and 95 passengers.
11416 100 9A-BTE Trade Air. Arrived at Woensdrecht from Zagreb 24 October 2022 as TDR9700.
11492 100 EP-LCQ Kish Air. Returned into service in November 2022 after two years storage at Mashhad.
11557 070ER KAF308 Kenya Government. Seen Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta 12 November 2022.
11562 070 5B-DDF 5Y-IFA I-Fly Air. Delivered from Woensdrecht via Luxembourg and Cairo to Nairobi 9 and 10 November 2022 as SXI2255, still using its 5B-registration. On arrival in Nairobi the fire brigade gave a water salute to welcome the aircraft. Re-registered 13 November 2022.
11581 070 5Y-JWF Premier Airlines. This F70 is now sporting titles and tail logos and was flying Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta to Juba on 15 November 2022.

For many years former Scenic Airlines F27 N278MA (10280) is laying at Daytona Beach airport, reportedly as a training object for the local fire brigade. It used to have the blue Scenic colors, and recently it received a new orange cheatline as well as Ciro Airways titles. On the nose is the text ‘Captain Cyrus Calhoun’. The meaning of this is unknown. (Grant Robinson on Flickr; Daytona Beach, 20 October 2022)

 

After the demise of NEPC Airlines, their Friendship fleet was abandoned at Chennai, exposed to the weather. Three of them have found a new role, of which we already covered VT-NEC (10691) in Fokkernews 50 (February 2022). VT-NEE (10678) now serves as a prop in one of the photographic sets of Pixocity, a company that offers pre-wedding photo shoots in special locations. It is painted in Divine Air livery, a fictive airline somewhere in Gujarat, India. (Rahimi Aircraft Maintenance Engineering on Facebook; Gujarat, 7 February 2022). Sister ship VT-NEJ (10684) was recently transported to Vasant Vihar close to Muzaffarpur in Bihar, India where it soon will open as the Aeroplane Restaurant, currently still in NEPC faded colors. (Ambuj on Google; Vasant Vihar, July 2022)

Salaam Air has now applied large titles to its F50 5Y-MMA (20145). (André Alders; Mogadishu, 12 November 2022)

 

Like many other Fokkers in East Africa, Silverstone Air Services F50 5Y-IZZ (20180) is operating in an all-white livery without titles. (André Alders; Juba 15 November 2022)

Unfortunately, Saacid Airlines 5Y-WFD (20214) has lost its titles. Only a small tail logo remains, showing the operator. (André Alders; Mogadishu; 12 November 2022)

 

Despite Jubba Airways was reported to have ceased operations last June, their F50 6O-JAF (20261) is still or again active in Somalia. (André Alders; Mogadishu, 12 November 2022)

 

Comorian airline R’Komor inducted the first own F50 in the fleet. The construction number of D6-AIB is confirmed as 20335. It is claimed as former ST-DNP of ElDinder Aviation, but we are not completely convinced, as there are some inconsistencies in the history. Anyway, in contrast to the F50 that R’Komor leased earlier this year (see Fokkernews 55 of July 2022), the new arrival is fully painted in the very attractive house style. (R’Komor; Moroni, 6 November 2022)

 

Maandeeq Air has recently registered a Fokker 50 as 6O-YAS, only the second known F50 in the Somalian register. Its identity is still unknown, although we believe that ex 5Y-SMT (20177) might a potential candidate; time will tell. (André Alders; Mogadishu, 13 November 2022)

 

On 29 October 2022, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines F100 VH-FWH (11316) made its last flight ever and was captured after arrival in Singapore. It will be scrapped there soon. This retirement leaves just eight F100s in the Virgin fleet. (Fred Crampton; Singapore-Seletar, 29 October 2022)

 

Retired Air Panama F100 HP-1896PST (11320) was transformed into the Captain Flags restaurant, as we reported in Fokkernews 53 (May 2022). Recently it received an appropriate coat of paint, demonstrating its new function. (Drones Panama on Facebook; Naos Island, Panama City, 1 November 2022)

 

Kenyan I-Fly Air has added the first jet to its fleet, a Fokker 70 (11562).The aircraft is seen here arriving on delivery in Kenya, still wearing its former registration 5B-DDF. (I-Fly Air on Facebook; Nairobi-Wilson, 10 November 2022). Few days later it was re-registered to 5Y-IFA (André Alders; Nairobi-Wilson, 13 November 2022)

This former KLM Cityhopper F70 is now in use with Premier Airlines as 5Y-JWF (11581), flying out of Nairobi to larger cities in the region like Mogadishu and Juba. The livery has been modified since our previous photo (Fokkernews 56 of August 2022). (André Alders; Juba, 15 October 2022)

 

Credits

All photographers named above, André Alders, ASNAR-RDC, ATDB Newsletter, Aviation Herald, Aviator.aero, CH-Aviation, Fred Crampton, Merv Crowe, Frank Ellemers, FlightAware, Greg Hyde, R’Komor, Jacques Vooren, WoensdrechtAS forum.

This page contains recent owner & operator changes and other news related to the individual airframes of Fokker F27 (including Fokker 50 & Fokker 60) and Fokker F28 (including Fokker 70 & Fokker 100). Also the Fairchild models F-27 and FH-227 are part of the Fokker Fleetlist. The airframes are printed in chronological order.

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