Stellair – Transports Aériens

 

 Founded in Feb82 by Christian Beugin and Stella Beugin-Bottaro, from whose names the company derived its title, Stellair – Transports Aériens began operations as a small French airline specialising in regional passenger and cargo services throughout Europe and North Africa. As the company gradually established itself in the market, it expanded its fleet with aircraft such as the Fokker F27 Friendship, increasing its operational capabilities and paving the way for more ambitious services.
Within this process of expansion, Stellair took a significant step towards jet operations in 1991 by leasing Fokker F28 Fellowship F-GIAI from TAT (Touraine Air Transport). The arrival of the twin-jet marked the culmination of the airline's fleet modernisation programme and reflected its ambition to compete in a more demanding sector of the regional market, offering greater speed, capacity and passenger comfort than the turboprop aircraft that had previously formed the backbone of its fleet.
However, the venture failed to deliver the expected results. The F28's relatively high operating costs, combined with the limited scale of Stellair's operations, prevented the Fellowship from achieving the level of profitability anticipated by the airline. After only a brief period in service, the aircraft was returned to TAT and subsequently leased to the Macedonian carrier Palair. Although its time with Stellair was short-lived, the Fokker F28's service with the airline remains an interesting chapter in the operational history of the Fellowship, illustrating both the ambitions of small European regional carriers and the financial challenges involved in operating commercial jet aircraft during the early 1990s.

* 11013 F-GIAI Fokker F-28 Mk. 1000 dd. Jan82 - Dic82

Never delivered #36

 

Upon returning from its promotional tour of the Americas in February and March 1978, the Fokker F-28 Mk.4000 landed in Caracas, Venezuela, one of the final stops for registration PH-JPV (c/n 11130). There, it was showcased to Línea Aeropostal Venezolana (LAV)—which had previously shown interest in the F-28—and to AVENSA.

And if LAV and AVENSA had acquired the Fokker F-28 Mk.4000, would they have looked like this?.

 

How the Hardware Gets Lost

    In 1994, Aerolíneas Argentinas retired its Fokker F-28 Fellowship fleet, which had been in service since 1975. Most of the reusable components were subsequently removed from the airframes, while the stripped-down remains were left abandoned on the grass at the far end of the hangar apron at Ezeiza. This was where they were found in Nov96. The one that survived the longest was LV-LOA. msn. 11085.
    The aircraft's cockpit section remained within the airport grounds for some time and was even used by a union faction during several demonstrations, the kind of events Argentine society has had to endure on a seemingly daily basis. The last report on the cockpit was that it had been acquired by a private individual, who kept it parked on a trailer in front of her residence in the northern suburbs of Greater Buenos Aires. -"LOA´s Cockpit"-

Read the original article in Spanish in Roll Out.