Saab 340

Updated: October 2026 – A small twin with droning four-blade propellers, the wings low on the fuselage, the tail completely conventional at the back: if something like that comes into your viewfinder, it’s worth a second look. It may well be a Saab 340 – an aircraft that shaped regional air travel in Scandinavia and Great Britain for decades and is now a real rarity in central Europe. Here you learn how to identify it with confidence, how to tell it from the Saab 2000 and other turboprops and where you can still find it today.

What is the Saab 340?

The Saab 340 is a twin-engine regional turboprop for 30 to 36 passengers, most commonly with 34 seats. It began as a joint project: in January 1980 the Swedish group Saab and the US manufacturer Fairchild announced a joint feeder aircraft, initially called the SF340. Saab took on the fuselage, fin and final assembly in Linköping, Sweden; Fairchild supplied the wings, horizontal stabilizer and engine nacelles. The work split was roughly 65 to 35.

The first flight took place on January 25, 1983. Already in June 1984 Switzerland’s Crossair took over the first production aircraft – the regional airline from Basel was thus the launch customer and brought the type into central European airspace early on. Fairchild left the program in 1985, after about 40 aircraft had been built jointly. From then on the type was a pure Saab product and was simply called the Saab 340.

By the end of production in 1999, about 459 units had been built, with the last delivery in June 1999. That makes the 340 one of the most successful regional turboprops of its generation. Its bigger brother, the Saab 2000, picked up the concept but remained far rarer. After the 340 and the 2000, Saab withdrew from civil aircraft manufacturing and concentrated on military technology such as the JAS 39 Gripen.

The versions: 340A, 340B and 340B Plus

For spotters the variants are hard to tell apart from the outside. Still, it is worth knowing the differences, because the exact version appears in databases and registers.

Version	Built	Engine	Notes
340A	159	GE CT7-5A2	First production version from 1984
340B	200	GE CT7-9B	More powerful engines, wider horizontal stabilizer, more performance in heat and at altitude
340B Plus	100	GE CT7-9B	From 1994, active noise and vibration suppression, extended wingtips as standard

The active noise suppression on the 340B Plus works with microphones and anti-noise in the cabin and noticeably lowers the noise level in cruise. Some of the late 340Bs already had this system. On many late aircraft the lavatory also moved from the rear to the front behind the cockpit to create more baggage space.

In addition there are freighter conversions (340AF and 340BF), built since the early 2000s from former passenger aircraft. Smaller cargo airlines use them to fly express freight over short routes – one reason the type keeps turning up even after its withdrawal from scheduled service.

The three features that are enough to identify it

At first glance turboprops often look alike. With the Saab 340, though, three observations get you there quickly.

In addition, the fuselage looks short and round, the engine nacelles extend far ahead of the wing leading edge, and the main landing gear disappears into the nacelles when retracted. With a bit of practice, the silhouette on approach is enough for you.

Saab 340 or Saab 2000?

The Saab 2000 is the larger successor to the 340 and follows a similar basic layout as a low-wing aircraft. You can mix the two up mainly in photos with no size reference.

Feature	Saab 340	Saab 2000
Length	19.73 m	a good 27 m
Seats	30–36	approx. 50
Propellers	Four-blade	Six-blade
Engine	GE CT7	Rolls-Royce AE 2100
Look in profile	stubby, rounded	long and slender

In a photo the difference shows most clearly in the ratio of fuselage to wing: on the 2000 there are visibly more windows ahead of the wing, and the nose looks longer. The six-blade propellers are easy to count in good light – as long as you don’t expose too fast.

Saab 340, ATR, Dash 8 or Dornier 328?

Among regional turboprops there is a whole series of look-alike candidates. The finder helps you narrow it down in three steps. The post Telling turboprops apart offers a detailed overview of the competitors.

You rule out the high-wing ATR 42-600 and Dash 8-100 immediately by the wing position. Trickier is the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia: it is also a low-wing aircraft of similar size but carries its horizontal stabilizer on top of the fin. The Dornier 328, in turn, has its wings on top and a T-tail – it has little in common visually with the Saab.

Operators in Scandinavia and Great Britain

For about three decades the Saab 340 was a typical sight at northern European regional airports. Today that has changed dramatically – much of this section is aviation history.

Scandinavia: the home region

In Sweden numerous regional airlines flew the home-built type, including Skyways, Swedair and later NextJet, which ceased operations in 2018. The 340 also operated for a time under the brand of SAS. In Finland Blue1, Finnaviation and Finncomm Airlines, among others, relied on Saab; in Norway smaller companies such as Norving. What they have in common: they no longer fly the type today, and many of them no longer exist.

One reason for the withdrawal is the generational change. Modern turboprops like the ATR 72-600 offer more seats and lower costs per seat, and the supply chain for spare parts for an aircraft that has not been built since 1999 is thinning. How the regional market as a whole has shifted is covered in the post Regional airlines in Europe.

Militarily, Sweden stayed loyal to the type longer: the air force used it as a transport (Tp 100) and above all as the S 100 Argus early warning aircraft with the Erieye radar. As a successor, Sweden ordered the GlobalEye, based on a business jet, in 2022. If you are interested in Swedish aviation history around Saab, the Flygvapenmuseum in Linköping (Swedish Air Force Museum) is a good place to start – Linköping is also where the Saab 340s were assembled.

Great Britain: Loganair and the islands

In Great Britain the 340 was associated above all with Loganair. The Scottish airline flew it from 1999, for a time in the colors of British Airways and later as a Flybe franchise. In 2017 Loganair first showed its own new livery on a Saab 340B freighter. Its base in Glasgow made Glasgow Airport one of the best places for Saab photos in Europe for years.

In January 2024 Loganair retired its last Saab 340s and replaced them with ATR turboprops. The last rotation on January 25, 2024 fell exactly on the 41st anniversary of the Saab 340’s first flight. The airline had already given up the larger Saab 2000 in 2020. Other former British operators included Manx Airlines and – on the Channel Island of Guernsey – Aurigny. At least until the mid-2010s, Cranfield University also used a Saab 340 as a flying laboratory in training.

Where the Saab 340 flies today

The center of gravity has moved far away from Europe. The largest operator is Australia’s Rex Regional Express, which had 57 Saab 340s in its fleet in August 2025 and thus runs the world’s largest Saab 340 fleet. Other active aircraft fly in the Americas, among other places, often with cargo and charter companies. According to common reference works, about 250 Saab 340s were still in active service in 2023 – exact current figures vary.

In Europe you only come across the type with a few smaller cargo and charter operators. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland it is therefore a real rarity that turns up more by chance at regional airports or on cargo aprons. How to put such lucky finds in perspective is explained in the post How rare is my sighting?.

Region	Chance of a hit	Why
Australia	high	Rex operates the world’s largest Saab 340 fleet
Scandinavia	low	Passenger operators have largely disappeared
Great Britain	low	Loganair retired the type in 2024, only isolated aircraft
DACH region	very low	Sporadic cargo and charter flights, ferry flights

A brief look at the history

The Saab 340 did not only see successes. Besides launch customer Crossair, which used the type intensively from Zurich Airport and Basel, KLM Cityhopper also flew the 340 in the 1990s. Both airlines had fatal accidents that led to intensive investigations, such as the crash of Crossair Flight 498 in 2000 shortly after takeoff in Zurich. Over its entire service life, the type is nonetheless regarded as a solid, robust workhorse that plays to its strengths especially on short runways and in rough weather.

That the 340 still flies in Australia, the Americas and as a freighter more than 25 years after the last delivery speaks for its design.

Photo tips for turboprops like the Saab 340

The Saab 340 is not a big subject, but a rewarding one. The compact shape fits well in the frame, and with turning propellers every shot looks alive.

Where to stand well at smaller airports is explained in the post Spotting at regional airports. With the sun position planner in Planetrack you see right on the spot map when the light suits your vantage point.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The Saab 340 is a piece of northern European regional aviation history. Low wing, conventional tail and four-blade propellers make it unmistakable once you have internalized the combination. While it has largely disappeared from scheduled service in Scandinavia and Great Britain, it still flies in large numbers in Australia – and in Europe only with a few smaller operators. That makes every sighting here a small highlight.