Fokker 50

Updated: October 2026 – A high-wing aircraft with two turboprops taxis toward the runway, the horizontal stabilizer sits perfectly normally at the end of the fuselage, and the propellers spin with a striking number of blades: chances are you are looking at a Fokker 50. It was the last turboprop airliner from the Netherlands and for more than a decade a familiar visitor at German, Austrian and Benelux airports. Today it has become rare. Here you will learn how to identify it with confidence, how to tell it from the F27, ATR and Dash 8, and where you can still find it in October 2026.

What is the Fokker 50?

The Fokker 50 is a twin-engine turboprop regional aircraft for typically 46 to 56 passengers. In the early 1980s the proven Fokker F27 Friendship was selling worse and worse – its concept dated from the 1950s, and new competitors with more economical engines were pushing into the market. Fokker responded in November 1983 by launching a successor program.

At first glance the result looks like a refreshed F27. In fact, Fokker took over the basic shape of the stretched F27-500 but reworked almost everything underneath. Instead of the Rolls-Royce Dart, two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW125B engines drive six-blade propellers from Dowty Rotol. Fuel consumption fell by around 30 percent compared with the F27. Add a glass cockpit, more composite materials and a reworked cabin with a denser row of windows. Little of the F27 remained under the skin – the outward kinship is deceptive.

The first prototype took off on December 28, 1985. After certification in 1987, the first aircraft went to Germany’s DLT – the predecessor of today’s Lufthansa CityLine – and to Ansett Australia. That made DLT the first airline in Europe with the Fokker 50. You will find more about the manufacturer on the page about Fokker, and more about the engine maker at Pratt & Whitney.

A short life on the assembly line

The Fokker 50 arrived at a time of fierce competition. The ATR 42, the Dash 8 and the Saab 340 competed for the same customers, and the larger ATR 72 followed later. At the same time, Fokker was pouring a lot of money into its jet family of the Fokker 100 and Fokker 70. As losses mounted, cuts came in 1994 and 1995, and bankruptcy followed in March 1996. That also ended production of the Fokker 50; the last aircraft was delivered in 1997.

In the end, around 213 aircraft are on the books – 214 according to some sources. Compared with the nearly 800 F27s from Fokker and Fairchild production, that is a small number. To look after the remaining fleet, Fokker Services was founded in 1996, and it still provides technical support for the type and its sister aircraft today.

The versions at a glance

There are not many variants. For spotters, three versions matter most.

Version	Special feature
Fokker 50	Standard version with PW125B, typically 46 to 56 seats
Fokker 50 (variants with more powerful engines)	For hot and high airfields, with PW127B depending on the source
Fokker 50 Freighter	Converted freighters with large cargo doors, entered service in 2008 with MiniLiner in Italy, among others
Fokker 60	Stretched by 1.62 m, strengthened, large cargo door on the right; four built for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, first flight November 1995

At 26.87 meters in length, the Fokker 60 is the only true fuselage stretch. After their time in the Netherlands, the four aircraft sat in storage for a while and went to the Peruvian Navy in 2010. A fifth was under construction but was never completed.

The three features that are enough to identify it

High-wing turboprops are plentiful at regional airports. The Fokker 50 gives itself away through a combination that the common competitors lack.

In the end, the registration confirms the type. Especially with an aircraft that has been passed from operator to operator for decades, a look in a database is worthwhile. How to find out an aircraft’s age is covered in the article How to find out an aircraft’s age.

Fokker 50, F27 or ATR?

The most common mix-up happens within the same family. From the outside, the F27-500 and the Fokker 50 are closely related, both high-wing aircraft with a classic tail and virtually the same 29-meter wingspan. Propellers and windows settle it. With the modern competitors, the tail helps instead.

Feature	Fokker 50	Fokker F27	ATR 72	Saab 2000
ICAO type designator	F50	F27	AT72/AT75/AT76	SB20
Wing	high	high	high	low
Tail	conventional	conventional	T-tail	conventional
Propeller blades	6	4	4 or 6 depending on version	6
Cabin windows	many, small	few, large and oval	many, small	many, small

The Saab 2000 also has six-blade propellers and a horizontal stabilizer on the fuselage, but it is a low-wing aircraft. You can see that from any angle. The article How to tell turboprops apart compares the common regional turboprops in detail.

The Fokker 50 in German-speaking countries

In Germany, the Fokker 50 story began with a bang: in 1987 DLT was the first European operator. Its successor Lufthansa CityLine flew a total of 35 aircraft. In 1995 the supervisory board decided to hand all Fokker 50s over to Contact Air by 1997, which continued to operate feeder flights in the Lufthansa network with them.

In Austria, Austrian Air Services used the Fokker 50 from 1988. When the company merged into Tyrolean Airways in 1994, the aircraft moved there. Other well-known European operators were KLM Cityhopper in the manufacturer’s home country, Luxair in Luxembourg, Air Nostrum in Spain and Air Baltic. Outside Europe, Ethiopian Airlines and Ansett Australia were among the customers. Most of these airlines retired the type long ago.

A sad chapter is the crash of Luxair Flight 9642 in November 2002 on approach to Luxembourg Airport, in which 20 of the 22 people on board died. It remains one of the best-known accidents involving the type.

For a long time, Belgium’s VLM Airlines was a safe bet. It flew its Fokker 50s between Antwerp and London City and to Zurich, among other routes. In August 2018 VLM ceased operations for good – and with that, one of the last regular Fokker 50 connections in Western Europe disappeared.

Last operators and chances to see one

If you want to see a Fokker 50 today, look at Sweden first. There PopulAir, known as Amapola Flyg until October 2023, operates twelve aircraft according to fleet data from August 2025 – seven passenger aircraft with 50 seats each and five freighters. That makes the airline the largest civil Fokker 50 operator. Its home base is Stockholm Arlanda Airport, and PopulAir also flies scheduled routes to northern Sweden on behalf of the Swedish transport agency and connects Mariehamn on Åland with Turku. At Arlanda, the official spotting areas make a good starting point.

The type is also still in use in Kenya. According to July 2026 data, Skyward Express flies three Fokker 50s out of Nairobi Wilson and Jomo Kenyatta; in 2022, Silverstone Air Services with several aircraft was also among the big operators. More Fokker 50s fly with smaller airlines in East Africa and Central America – for example, according to fleet data from spring 2026, Air Panama still lists two aircraft, which are due to be replaced by the Dash 8-400.

According to 2022 inventory lists, military and government users of the type included the Peruvian Navy with Fokker 50s and Fokker 60s, the Tanzanian government flight squadron, the air forces of Singapore and Taiwan, and the Thai police; whether all of these aircraft are still flying in October 2026 cannot be said reliably.

Place / occasion	Chance of a hit	Why
Stockholm Arlanda	medium to high	Base of PopulAir with the largest civil Fokker 50 fleet
Regional airports in northern Sweden	medium	PopulAir serves public service routes there
Nairobi	medium	Kenyan operators such as Skyward Express
Aviodrome Lelystad	certain, but static	Fokker 50 prototype at the museum entrance
German, Austrian and Swiss airports	very low	at most ferry, maintenance or charter flights

The prototype in the museum

The surest encounter is at the Aviodrome in Lelystad. One of the two Fokker 50 prototypes, built from F27 airframes, flanks the entrance. Since the collection also includes F27 Friendships, with a bit of luck you can compare both generations directly – propellers, windows and nacelles show the differences best. How to combine the visit with the flight operations at the airfield is described in the spot Aviodrome at Lelystad Airport. If you are in the Netherlands anyway, the trip combines well with a day at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport; the Schiphol spotting guide has tips.

How to plan the hunt for a Fokker 50

With a type that has such a small remaining fleet, preparation is decisive. The aircraft mostly fly fixed regional routes, but rotations and assignments change at short notice.

How to follow flights live is explained in the guide to flight tracking with ADS-B; how to get notified for a specific type is shown in Setting up flight tracking alerts. You will find general strategies for rarities under Spotting rare aircraft, and you can put the significance of your sighting in context with How to judge the rarity of a sighting. If you want not only to see a Fokker 50 but to fly on one, you will find ideas in the article Flying on rare aircraft types as a passenger.

Photo tips especially for the Fokker 50

The Fokker 50 is a slim, elegant subject. A few points lift your picture above a pure record shot.

You can work out when the light suits your spot with the guide Planning the sun position for your photo spot. How different turboprops sound is explained in the article Identifying aircraft types by sound, and what is behind codes like F50 is shown in ICAO type designators explained.

Why the Fokker 50 fascinates spotters

The Fokker 50 marks the end of an era. It was the last turboprop airliner Fokker developed, and at the same time an attempt to carry the F27’s recipe for success into the modern age. It could not hold its own in the market against the ATR and Dash 8, and the manufacturer’s bankruptcy ended the program after a good ten years. That is exactly why it is a piece of aviation history today that is still flying in scheduled service.

If you catch a Fokker 50, you should note the registration, place and date. The number of flying aircraft is not going to grow, and every sighting already has rarity value.

Conclusion

A high-wing aircraft with the horizontal stabilizer on the fuselage, six-blade propellers and a long row of small windows: that is how you identify the Fokker 50. The propellers and windows separate it from the F27, the tail from the ATR and Dash 8, the wing from the Saab 2000. Built in around 213 units, it now flies mainly in Sweden and East Africa – and stands as a prototype in front of the Aviodrome.