Borrowed colours III

     

Fokker F-28 Mk.4000 LV-MZD (cn.11127) at Miami, Dec1979. Photo: Christian Volpati.

 

 One summer afternoon in 1979, while looking out from the terrace at Aeroparque, I managed to distinguish among the various aircraft on the apron the unmistakable shape of a particular Fokker F-28. There was no doubt that it looked different from the others operated by the state-owned company since 1975. Not only because of its colour scheme, but also because it was longer.

    These were not the days when one could simply go online and find out what it was. However, if one was familiar with the various colour schemes, thanks to the specialised magazines that helped nurture our still fledgling spotting knowledge — Interavia, Air Pictorial and Aircraft Illustrated, to name but a few — it was possible to identify it. This particular aircraft turned out to be the first of its type in Argentina, as the second Mk.4000 did not arrive until 1999, when T-02 - cn. 11203- was incorporated and assigned to the Presidency of the Nation.     

    Upon its arrival, the aircraft still carried the colours of NLM Cityhopper, and entered service in this guise: wearing "borrowed clothes". Before long, it would receive the full colour scheme of the Argentine company, once it was formally acquired in Apr80. In 1990, the aircraft was destroyed at Villa Gesell.

Never delivered #40

 The final stop of the Fokker F-28 Americas promotional sales tour, carried out in February/March 1978, was Canada. There, Fokker took the opportunity to showcase its Mk.4000 to several airlines.

In Winnipeg —Transair's base—, the PH-JPV (c/n 11130) performed flight demonstrations. Transair, which was in the process of merging with Pacific Western, was interested in a passenger/cargo combi version. Our friend Arnold Bejeman dreamed of a Fokker F-28 Mk.4000C for that airline; how lovely that would have been!.

Around that time, Great Lakes Airlines ordered two F-28 Mk.4000s with an option for a third aircraft. Once again, the Fellowship demonstrated its capability to serve the stops operated by that company.

The final stop of the promotional tour was Montreal, where the F-28 Mk.4000 was inspected by representatives from Air Canada, Nordair, Quebecair, and Execaire.

 

 

Let's imagine a Fokker F-28 Mk.3000C ordered by Nordair.

How great it would have been if all these airlines had bought the Fokker F-28!

Once the tour concluded, the PH-JPV (c/n 11130) flew to Amsterdam with stops in Goose Bay, Sondre Stromfjord / Kangerlussuaq (Greenland), and Keflavik (Iceland).

Mafira Air Charter

Mafira Air Charter was a small Malaysian company specializing in charter flights, established during the 1990s. Its activity focused on providing non-scheduled air transport for companies, tour groups, and official bodies, operating from Malaysia to various destinations in Southeast Asia. Unlike the large airlines in the region, Mafira Air Charter developed a small-scale structure and a fleet composed of very few aircraft, geared exclusively toward the charter market.

The Fokker F28 Fellowship was the company's primary jet aircraft. In March 1997, it acquired the F28-4000 c/n 11168, registered as 9M-AMZ, an aircraft with an extensive prior history in the United States, where it had successively served with Altair Airlines, Empire Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, and USAir. Following Fokker's bankruptcy, the aircraft briefly returned to the manufacturer before being acquired by Mafira Air Charter to begin a new chapter in Asia. Thanks to its capacity to carry around 85 passengers and its solid performance on short- and medium-haul routes, the Fellowship adapted well to the company's needs. In addition to charter flights, the F28 was leased in 1999 to the fellow Malaysian carrier Pelangi Air, continuing its commercial activity there before returning to Mafira Air Charter.

In June 2000, the F28 was sold to Bali International Air Service in Indonesia, where it received the registration PK-KFD. It subsequently went to Batavia Air as PK-YCM, remaining in service until the mid-2000s, when it was finally retired and scrapped at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta in May 2008. With the departure of this aircraft, Mafira Air Charter practically disappeared from international aeronautical registries, leaving as its main legacy having been one of the few Malaysian operators of the Fokker F28 Fellowship.

Mafira Air Charter F-28 fleet
* msn. 11168 Mk.4000 9M-AMZ dd 13Sep1997 – Jun2000 sold to Bali International Air Service (PK-KFD).