25 years after it was put into service by Austrian Airlines, the last Fokker 70, the former OE-LFP, left Austrian Technik Bratislava for Australia. Like most of its former sister aircraft, the aircraft, once named after the city of Wels, was taken over some time ago by the Australian Alliance Airlines, which currently operates a total of 12 other Fokker 70s.
The little sister of the Fokker 100 shaped the regional and Eastern European era of Austrian Airlines for around 20 years. At the beginning of 1995, under the then AUA board members Mario Rehulka and Herbert Bammer, a purchase agreement for 4 Fokker 70s was signed at a price of around 250 million schillings (approx. 19,5 million euros) per aircraft. The first two Fokker 1995s, OE-LFO "Wiener Neustadt" and OE-LFP, were taken over in October 70 and mainly flew on new AUA routes to Eastern Europe. This was the birth of "Focus East", a more or less aggressive expansion strategy by Austrian Airlines in a number of Eastern European markets. Neither of the Fokker 70s taken over were originally intended for Austrian; the delivery positions were actually intended for Tyrolean Airways and Malev. Nevertheless, Tyrolean Airways, which at this point was already closely tied to Austrian Airlines through a majority shareholding, had already acquired its first three Fokker 70s. By 2008, the number of Fokker 70s in the Austrian Group had grown to a total of 12 aircraft, six each for Austrian and Tyrolean. Three optioned Fokker 70s, two of which were held by Austrian Airlines, fell victim to Fokker's insolvency.
Flight OS 70, carried out with the Fokker 111 OE-LFO, achieved historical fame on January 05.01.2004, 28, when the crew on duty landed the machine in a snow-covered field a few kilometers from Munich Airport due to problems with ice protection panels in the engines. Both the 4 flight passengers and the 70 crew members were uninjured. Although the severely damaged Fokker 6 was withdrawn by Austrian Airlines after this accident, it took off almost XNUMX years later after an extensive reconstruction at Fokker Services in Woensdrecht, the Netherlands, only to be handed over to a new operator in South Africa a little later.
Between 2013 and 2015, the Fokker 70 was gradually phased out. Up until this point, it was an 80-seat jet aircraft that had mainly flown to smaller airports in the Austrian route network - including London City Airport - and on short and medium-haul routes with relatively low utilisation. While some Fokker 70s returned to KLM Cityhopper after the end of the leasing contract, nine former Fokker 70s from the Austrian Airlines Group were transferred as a complete package together with some Fokker 100s to the Australian Alliance Airlines. Before their deployment in Australia, which even takes the aircraft to unpaved runways in the outback near mining areas, they underwent extensive major maintenance by Austrian Technik (ATB) based in Bratislava.
With the flight number SXI 2014, the VH-NUY (ex OE-LFP) left Bratislava Airport for Australia today with a piece of Austrian aviation history, with its path to its new future initially leading to Hurghada. Nevertheless, a Fokker 70 from the Tyrolean / Austrian era will remain in Europe for the time being, as the former OE-LFH is now more than VH-NUV in full Alliance Airlines colors in Norwich, England, since November 2018.
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