Classic Airline Fleets: Air UK’s Fokker F27s

Fokker F27-500 Friendship, G-BCDN at Paris CDG, July 1987 (christian hanuise, distributed under a GFDL 1.2 Licence)

Air UK was born in 1980, formed from the merger of Air Anglia, British Island Airways, Air Wales, and Air Westward, establishing itself as the UK’s largest regional airline and the third‑largest scheduled operator in the country.

Its early fleet prominently featured Fokker F27 Friendship turboprops, inherited from Air Anglia, and these form the basis of this article.

Throughout the 1980s, Air UK operated up to 16 F27s across its expanding network, before replacing them gradually in the 1990s with Fokker 50s and other types as part of fleet modernisation.

By the late 1990s, as KLM took full ownership and rebranded Air UK to KLM UK, the F27 era ended, and the operator later merged into KLM Cityhopper, which eventually phased out all turboprop aircraft in the early 2000s.

Air UK & the Fokker F27: The Beginning

Michel Gilliand (GFDL 1.2 <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html> or GFDL 1.2 <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html>), via Wikimedia Commons

Air UK emerged on 1 January 1980, uniting several regional carriers, including Air Anglia—itself an operator of Fokker F27s—from Norwich. The new carrier inherited a mix of turboprops, among which the F27 was a core workhorse.

By mid‑1980, the combined fleet included around ten Fokker F27‑100/200s, used extensively on regional and scheduled routes across the British Isles, offering reliability and accessibility in a pre‑ATR era.

Operational Role & Fleet Evolution

From the early 1980s into the mid‑1990s, Air UK regularly operated between 10 and 16 F27s. The airline entered an agreement with KLM to provide connections into its network at Amsterdam Schiphol from many UK regional airports.

The core of these routes was the F27.

By 1985, F27 coverage rose to 16 aircraft, highlighting their importance across regional services. Then, by 1988, Air UK operated a mix of F27 Friendship variants—100, 200, 500, 600, alongside other types—totalling 16 F27 units.

These turboprops served short‑haul routes feeding trunk airports. Many spotters and travellers from that era will remember the whistling Dart turboprop sounds across Britain’s regional network, usually coming from an Air UK F27.

Modernisation: Transition to Fokker 50

Fokker 50 G-UKTI at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. (Paul Spijkers, distributed under a GFDL Licence)

As the aviation industry evolved, Air UK sought cleaner, more efficient aircraft. In the mid‑1990s, Fokker 50s—a modernised and more fuel‑efficient successor to the F27—started replacing the aging turboprops.

By 1997, the F27 fleet had shrunk to just five examples, while nine Fokker 50s and eleven Fokker 100s were in service. The airline also operated the BAe 146.

Final Takeover & Legacy

KLM gradually acquired Air UK throughout the 1990s, taking complete ownership and rebranding it as KLM UK by 1998. Soon after, operations were merged into KLM Cityhopper, which continued operating F27‑derived types, alongside Fokker 70 and 100 jets, before retiring them in favour of Embraer jets.

Air UK F27 Fleet Snapshot

Fokker F27-200 Friendship, G-BHMX at Aberdeen Airport, June 1988 (Gary Watt, distributed under a GFDL 1.2 Licence)

Air UK F27 Fleet and Survivors

G-BAKL, F27-200 – scrapped 1996

G-BAUR, F27-200 – fuselage last seen Exeter Airport fire training ground.

G-BCDN, F27-200 – preserved at City of Norwich Aviation Museum

G-BCDO, F27-200 – scrapped

G-BDDH, F27-200 – scrapped 2006

G-BDVS, F27-200 – Forward fuselage preserved at Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum

G-BDVT, F27-200 – scrapped 2005

G-BHMW, F27-200 – scrapped 2005

G-BHMX, F27-200 – scrapped 1996

G-BHMY, F27-200 – preserved at City of Norwich Aviation Museum

G-BLFJ/G-SPUD, F27-100 – scrapped 1996

G-BLGW, F27-200 – scrapped 1996

G-BMXD, F27-500 – scrapped 2015

G-BNAL, F27-600 – scrapped

G-BNCY, F27-500 – nose preserved Morayvia Museum, Scotland

G-BNIY, F27-600 – Stored Yangon as 5001/XY-AER with Myanmar Air Force

G-BNIZ, F27-600 – preserved at Erzican University East Anatolia, Turkey

G-BNTA, F27-600 – Stored at Panama City as HP-1606PST

G-BNTB, F27-600 – scrapped

G-BVOB, F27-500 – scrapped 2009

G-BVOM F27-500 – stored in Madrid as EC-GYL with Seven Air

G-STAN, F27-200 – scrapped 1996

City of Norwich Aviation Museum

AirUK Fokker F27 at City of Norwich Aviation Museum. Photo (c) David Thompson

The best place to relive your memories of Air UK’s Fokker F27 fleet is at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum.

Located at what was Air UK’s home base, Norwich Airport, this small museum has two former Air UK F27s on display for you to get up close to, as well as a Handley Page Herald.

See https://www.cnam.org.uk/

[Read: City of Norwich Aviation Museum’s Airliner Collection]

For many UK aviation fans, the Fokker F27 epitomises a bygone era—its distinctive whistling props were once a familiar sight at regional airports in the 1980s.

Do you remember Air UK’s Fokker F27s? Did you ever fly on one? Leave a comment below!