Netherlands Aircraft Company

Netherlands Aircraft Company is a Dutch company dedicated to restarting the production of upgraded versions of the Fokker 70 and Fokker 100 regional jets as production of those stopped when Fokker was declared bankrupt in 1996. They first announced their plans in late 2003 and intended to first re-launch the Fokker F70NG (NG standing for Next Generation) and if enough orders were placed later also the Fokker F100NG. Notable changes on the NG models would have been winglets and different engines. A possible third unnamed stretched version of the aircraft had also been mentioned.

Rekkof believes there is a sufficient market for the aircraft and that the design can still compete with similar modern regional airliners from manufacturers as Embraer and Bombardier Aerospace. However, while the announcement of a launch customer and the production restart have been called "imminent" by Rekkof a number of times between early 2004 and mid-2005, none of Rekkof's plans have materialised to date. KLM, a current user of Fokker aircraft and suggested as a launch customer, has denied that they are in negotiations with Rekkof and has Embraer regional jets on order to replace their Fokker fleet.

In March 2010 it was announced that the Dutch government granted the company a 20 million Euro loan to help develop the aircraft. Though Rekkof has stated that it prefers to assemble the aircraft in the Netherlands, with Lelystad Airport and Enschede Airport Twente mentioned as possible assembly locations, Bangalore in India had also been mentioned as a possible location with Indian engineering firm Cades Digitech having stated they were planning to invest 300 million US dollars in an assembly plant.[1] Construction on an aircraft parts plant started in November 2011 in the Brazilian state of Goiás in the city of Anápolis (some 35 mi/55 km from state capital Goiânia).[2][3][4] The works were however suspended due to the crisis in Europe[5] Later on, Rekkof mentioned that assembly of the airplane would have to stay in the Netherlands due to certification procedures.

In released promotional render, a new design called the Fokker F100NXT is shown, with the most notable difference being a redesigned wing, lacking the winglets proposed for the Fokker F100NG. In mid-2008 a new website was launched, and the new design was renamed to XF100.

Rekkof Aircraft is a part of Panta Holdings BV, which also owned Denim Air and VLM Airlines, both operating Fokker F50 aircraft. Denim Air had stopped flying in 2010 and resumed operations after successful restructuring, while VLM Airlines has been sold to Air France-KLM and has become a part of their subsidiary Cityjet.

Proposed Products

Standard seating for both aircraft is based on 30 inch seat pitch, the standard many airlines are now standardizing on using so called "slim seats"

Standstill

The project does not seem to have progressed. Since the Dutch government was allowed to supply Rekkof funds to develop the new aircraft, not a lot has happened. Rekkof visualised its plane on their website. No public report has been produced detailing spending of government-supplied funds. Parliamentary documents show that Rekkof has, thus far, not been able to co-finance the development. This information is only in Dutch and can be found at the tweedekamer.nl website.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Cades Digitech will make Fokker aircraft, article from Daily News & Analysis, India
  2. ↑ Rekkof perto da re.alidade
  3. ↑ "GYN Online - Aviação em Goiás!: REKKOF não decolou em Anápolis". gynonline.net.br.
  4. ↑ REKKOF Brasil. YouTube. 15 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "GYN Online - Aviação em Goiás!: REKKOF não decolou em Anápolis". gynonline.net.br.
  6. ↑ http://www.tweedekamer.nl/downloads/document?id=ff405a2a-98e0-46df-872e-f6448ce97019&title=Memorie%20van%20toelichting.pdf
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