Dismantling ends for 15 Fokker F28s parked two decades in Canada

Fifteen retired Fokker F28s that sat parked at a Canadian airport for about two decades have now been almost entirely dismantled. Twelve of the fifteen aircraft have been broken up, according to the aviation portal Up in the Sky, leaving three that were spared the shredder.

The aircraft came from the former fleet of Canadian Regional, a regional offshoot of Canadian Airlines International. After Canadian Airlines ran into serious financial trouble in the late 1990s, Air Canada took it over in January 2001 and absorbed it completely. The new owner retired the F28s, and fifteen of them went to Quest Aviation Holdings in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The plan was to part them out and sell the components. That never happened. The jets stayed on the airport apron for roughly twenty years and deteriorated gradually instead.

Three airframes were rescued. One, registered C-FTAV and built in 1976, was taken over by the Time Air Historical Society. Two further aircraft, both about 55 years old and registered C-GYCR and C-GTIZ, were acquired by private individuals.

Fokker announced the F28 at the 1962 Hannover Air Show, a predecessor of the present-day ILA, as its first jet. The type was designed for small, lightly built airfields that until then could only be served by propeller aircraft, seating 50 at first and later up to 79 passengers. Fokker built 241 examples between 1967 and 1987. Five F28s remain in service.