When Saab began working on what they called the Saab 2000 in 1988, it was intended to be the best turboprop on the market. However, a little over a decade later, Saab would production of the aircraft having built only 63 copies…
Despite being superior from a technical standpoint than many of its turboprop-powered contemporaries (and indeed some of its jet-powered ones too!) it would prove to be one of the least popular mass-produced regional airliners in history!
Pre-Saab 2000
Prior to the introduction of the Saab 2000, the concept of regional airliners was not a new one.
Indeed, the first regional airliners (such as the DC-1 and DC-2) had entered service in the 1930’s and 1940’s. However, it wouldn’t be until the 1950’s and 1960’s that they’d become incredibly popular.
Fast forward to the late 1970’s. Swedish aircraft manufacturer, Saab, previously known for producing military aircraft is striking a deal with American aircraft manufacturer, Fairchild Aircraft, to co-build a turboprop-powered regional airliner.
Originally designated as the Saab-Fairchild SF340, the aircraft would first fly on January 25 1983, before entering service the following year. Here, it would prove to be quite popular with a wide variety of operators.
However, Fairchild would leave the aviation game entirely in 1985, thus dropping out of the deal. In response to this, Saab took over 100% of the SF340 project, redesignating it as the Saab 340 to reflect this.
With the Saab 340 having been extremely successful – having sold almost 400 times in only five years – Saab hoped to capitalize on this even further.
Believing that there was a market for a 50-seat, turboprop-powered regional airliner (a rather large regional jet at the time), Saab decided to use a stretcher variant of their Model 340 for this new airliner.
Development
Beginning development in 1988, Saab started by stretching the Model 340’s fuselage by 7.55 meters (24 ft 9 in). This move allowed Saab to offer airlines this new airliner in two configurations, depending on their needs.
The first was more spacious, seating a total of 50 passengers, with each passenger getting a seat pitch of 32 inches (81 cm). The second was less spacious, seating roughly 58 passengers, with a seat pitch of 30 inches (76 cm).
For greater control, Saab also extended the Saab 340’s wingspan by 15%, going from 21.44 meters (70 ft 4 in) to 24.76 meters (81 ft 3 in), or a difference of 3.32 meters (10 ft 11 in).
To compensate for the added weight (as well as increase the new airliner’s range and cruising speed), Saab would replace the Model 340’s General Electric CT7-9B engines for more powerful Allison/Rolls-Royce AE 2100P engines.
Having a working prototype by early 1992, Saab would designate this new airliner as the Saab 2000, with the internal designation of the Saab Model 2000 (or “Model 2000” for short) which would first fly on March 26 1992.
Following this, Saab stated that the first Saab 2000s would be enter service in early 1994.
However, this would be delayed due when flight testing revealed an issue with the Model 2000’s propellers. Saab engineers would work around the clock to fix this issue, eventually leading them redesigning large parts of the propeller.
Operational History
Inadvertently, this would push back the entrance date of the Saab 2000 from January 1994 to August 1994, with the Saab entering service with the Swissair-owned Crossair regional airline on August 30 that year.
From here, the Saab would go on to have a rather interesting operational history…
Airline
Despite the first Saabs entering service with Swissair-owned Crossair, they would by no means be the only airline to operate it. Indeed, the Saab would appeal to two kinds of airlines: regional and low-cost ones.
For regional airlines, the Saab would usually enter service with the regional subsidiary of a much larger airline, such as British Airway’s BA CityFlyer or the Air France-affiliated Regional Airlines and/or CityJet.
In regional airline service, the Saab would be used to transport up to 50 people on short-haul (mostly domestic) routes, usually feeding in from a regional airport to a main hub, for the passengers to then board another flight, usually an international one.
Alternatively, these regional airlines would fly the Saab between two smaller regional airports where demand for that route was high. Most commonly, these routes were long-haul in terms of European domestic routes, often being at the extent of the Saab’s range.
Beyond regional airlines, the Saab would also appeal to low-cost airlines. Here, they purchased the larger Saab 2000 over its smaller turboprop counterparts as this allowed them to transport more passengers (and thus earn more profit per flight).
Whilst not always, many of these low-cost airlines would pair them with the Saab 340, as they have a high part commonality, which makes maintenance much easier. Here, the 340 would do short-haul flights, whilst the 2000 did long-haul ones.
By far the largest low-cost carrier that operated the Saab was Deutsche AB (eventually merged into airBerlin), who operated five Saabs, becoming one of the largest operators of the type.
Cargo
However, beginning in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, both regional and low-cost airlines would begin to retire their Saabs in favor of newer jets. With this, they’d flood the second-hand market with used Saabs.
Seeing this, many smaller cargo airlines would take advantage of this. You see, the Saab 340 (which served as the basis for the Model 2000) proved to be an incredibly profitable cargo aircraft, and many thought that the Saab 2000 would also be.
Acquiring many Saab 2000s from airlines, these smaller cargo airlines would then pay a third-party company (not Saab like they did with the Model 340) for these aircraft to have their airline interior removed, and replaced with a cargo one.
The first cargo Saab 2000s would enter service in the early 2010’s, often being used as the larger, longer-range alternative to the Saab 340 (which many of these cargo operators also owned).
In cargo airline service, the Model 2000 typically flies short-haul routes, usually up and down the east/west coast of the US, or mostly domestic routes if flying in Europe. Here, it usually transports medium amounts of low-value cargo.
Sadly, recent years have seen many cargo airlines begin to retire their Saab 340 and 2000s in favor of jets from the ERJ and CRJ100/200 family, as these jets are not only cheaper to operate, but also far larger, thus netting these cargo airlines a larger higher profit per flight.
Military
Having seen the Saab 340’s success as a military aircraft – in particular, an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft – several air forces would clamor to acquire the larger Saab 2000 for a similar purpose.
To that end, in June 2006, the Pakistan Air Force (and by extension, the Government of Pakistan) approached Saab about acquiring a AEW&C-configured Saab 2000 that could counter India’s two AEW&C-equipped ERJ-145s.
Initially placing an order for six aircraft, the Government of Pakistan would renegotiate the contract, reducing their order down to five aircraft. Here, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officially designated them as the Saab E-2000.
As a part of this renegotiated contract, only four of the five Saabs would be equipped for AEW&C purposes with the Saab-Ericcson Erieye radar.
The remaining Saab E-2000 would be used as a VIP transport for high-ranking officers in the PAF, as well as serve as a multiengine trainer too.
Sadly, one of Pakistan’s AEW&C-equipped Saabs was destroyed by a Taliban attack on PAF Base Minhas in August 2012. In that attack, two more AEW&C-equipped Saabs were also damaged, but later repaired.
To compensate for this, Pakistan ordered a further three Saab E-2000s from Saab, which have since been delivered.
Beyond the Saab 2000’s service in the PAF, it was also acquired by the Royal Saudi Air Force too, who have similarly used the Saab as an AEW&C aircraft, with it serving as the short-haul alternative to the Boeing 707-derived E-3 Sentry!
Flight Inspection
Having proven itself in both commercial and military service, many began to note the Saab’s relatively slow stalling speed (for an aircraft of its size anyway) noting that it would make a great airfield inspection aircraft.
Although speculation had been abound for years prior, the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau, or JCAB for short, would place an order for two Saab 2000s, which were later delivered in November 1998.
In JCAB service, the Saab worked alongside the JCAB’s other aircraft (namely the Cessna Citation CJ4, NAMC YS-11 and de Havilland Canada DHC-8) to inspect Japanese airfields, ensuring that they remain up to date and safe for use.
Based at Tokyo Haneda airport, the Saab would log hundreds of hours, inspecting some of Japan’s largest and most famous airports.
Despite having an impeccable service record, rising maintenance costs would see the JCAB retire their fleet of two Saab 2000s, replacing the Saab’s flights with the JCAB’s pre-existing three Cessna Citation CJ4s and one DHC-8.
From here, they were flown to the US, where they were deregistered in Japan and reregistered in the US, each taking the registrations of N201JA and N202JA respectively. From here, they were then stored in an Arizona aircraft graveyard.
VIP Transport
In an attempt to gain more non-airline customers for the Model 2000, Saab would develop several variants of the aircraft, including signals intelligence (SIGNIT) and marine patrol variants.
To convince organizations (mainly militaries) to buy these variants, Saab would even go as far to build prototypes for these variants. Despite this, Saab would build three prototypes that would never end up being delivered to clients.
Not wanting to waste them, Saab made minor alterations to them and used them as the company’s regional business jet, being used to transport the company’s c-suite executives in and around northern Europe, particularly Scandinavia and Germany.
Many years later, airlines would begin to retire their Saabs in favor of newer regional jets. Seeing many second-hand Saab 2000s flooding the market, wealthy individuals and corporations would buy them up and convert them into private jet-style aircraft.
In particular, several NASCAR teams would acquire the Saab. Here, it could be used to transport the driver and their entourage (which are often as many as 15 people), at a cheaper cost than flying a private jet like the G650 or Global 5500.
Beyond NASCAR teams, the Saab would also become quite popular as General Motor’s short-haul corporate aircraft.
Primarily, it would transport the company’s c-suite executives around the northeast and up and down the east coast, similarly being because it is cheaper than using a jet-powered private jet to carry the same amount of people!
Charter
If you don’t have the money to buy a used Saab (or just don’t want to risk losing all your money!) you can charter one instead. And yes, you can charter one in any configuration you like…
For instance, if you’re looking to charter a turboprop airliner that can transport over 50 people, the Saab 2000 is your aircraft. Guess what? There are hundreds of companies that currently offer airline-configured Saabs for a fee.
Indeed, according to the heads of several large aircraft charter businesses, the airline-configured Saab is actually the most popular airline-configured turboprop that they currently offer (with them offering almost every other turboprop ever built too!)
Let’s say you needed to transport a medium amount of low-value cargo (or a low amount of high-value cargo), there are even more companies that are offering cargo-configured Saabs regardless of where you are in the world.
By the same token, if you want to fly in style, there are several executive air charter companies that currently offer VIP Saab 2000s, usually former airline Saabs that have been reconfigured by a later owner for VIP transport.
Although it depends on who you fly with, the configuration of the Saab, the route, time of year and so on, it currently costs around $6,000 per hour to charter the Saab 2000.
Specifications
As the Saab 2000 was based on the Saab 340, it’s only natural that the two airliners share some of the same physical and technical specs.
However, due to the nature of the two airliners, some of their specs naturally differ, with the Saab 2000 intended to be the superior alternative to the older Saab 340…
| Specifications | Saab 2000 |
|---|---|
| Length | 27.28 m (89 ft 6 in) |
| Wingspan | 24.76 m (81 ft 3 in) |
| Height | 7.73 m (25 ft 4 in) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 50 – 58 (depending on configuration) |
| Cruise Speed | 665 km/h (413 mph, 359 kn) |
| Range | 2,869 km (1,783 mi, 1,549 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 31,000 ft (9,450 m) |
| MTOW | 22,800 kg (50,265 lb) |
Why Was The Saab 2000 Such a Failure?
The Saab 340 was one of the most popular regional airliners of its day. In part, it was this success that drove Saab to produce the Model 2000 from their Model 340, yet, the Model 2000 never replicated the Saab 340’s success…
In a seven year period (1992-1999), only 63 Saab 2000s would be produced, making it the least popular airliner of the late 20th century, and one of the least popular regional airliners in history! So this begs the question, why?
Unlike other unsuccessful airliners, the Saab’s failure wasn’t due to one thing in particular, but rather several things that compounded.
To begin with, the Saab was incredibly expensive. With a price tag of 15 million, it was the most expensive turboprop on the market. By comparison, newer regional jets like the ERJ-135 and CRJ100 cost $15 and $18 million respectively.
Yet it wasn’t just more expensive to acquire, it was also more expensive to operate. Compared to the ERJ-135 and CRJ100, the Saab cost almost double the amount per seat to operate, all whilst carrying fewer people.
Beyond this, the regional airliner market began to move away from turboprops and towards jets like the ERJ-135 and CRJ100 in the early 1990’s.
However, Saab ignored this and continued to develop a turboprop-powered Saab 2000, rather than developing it into a jet-powered one like Embraer did with the EMB-120 and ERJ-135!
To make things worse, Saab only marketed it in Europe. Whilst a large aviation market for sure, Saab essentially neglected the US – the world’s largest aviation market – who had many airlines who would’ve purchased the aircraft but couldn’t.
Perhaps not surprisingly, only one US-based airline acquired the Saab, that being Alaska-based regional airline PenAir, who owned and operated a fleet of five Saabs.
How Safe Was The Saab 2000?
In recent years, several high-profile aviation incidents has placed aviation safety in the forefront of everyone’s mind. So this begs the question, how safe was the Saab 2000?
On the surface of things, the Saab should be quite safe, after all, the Saab 340 (that served as the basis for the Model 2000) was inherently safe, so at least in theory, the Model 2000 should be quite safe…
Here’s where things get a bit tricky.
Of the 63 Saabs ever produced, only eight have been involved in an aviation-related incident of some kind. Whilst this may not seem like a lot, to put it in numerical terms, 12.7% of all the Saab 2000s ever produced were involved in an incident of some sort.
For reference, only 4% of all the 747s ever produced have crashed, with the 747 generally being considered to be one of the safest aircraft to have ever flown.
However, before we start calling the Saab 2000 one of the most dangerous aircraft to have ever flown, we should note that of those eight crashes, only one resulted in fatalities. And even then, it was a single fatality.
Whilst still one more than we’d like, it does make the Model 2000 considerably safer than the Saab 340 (in terms of fatalities at least).
Looking at the accident reports, it doesn’t seem like any of the crashes were due to the aircraft itself, but rather ATC or pilot error – such as crashing into a mound of dirt or crashing into a closed hangar door!
Bottom line, the Saab is still fairly safe, but if there’s a regional jet on offer, I’d take the jet if I were you.
Legacy
As the Saab is almost 100% retired (with only six still in service around the world as of the time of writing) we have started to see a legacy being to form, one that’s surprisingly large given the relative failure of the aircraft…
Saab
Whilst many like to think that the Saab 340 was the first commercial aircraft Saab had built, it wasn’t. Instead, that was the Saab 90 Scandia, which they built between 1946 and 1954, selling a grand total of 18.
Having developed three commercial airliners, and two out of the three failing miserably (the Saab 90 and 2000), Saab decided to call it quits for the second time running.
While they continue to produce military aircraft, Saab have sworn off producing commercial aircraft for good, instead leaving it the “big four” aircraft manufacturers (Boeing, Embraer, Bombardier and Airbus).
In its place, Saab has been able to focus on expanding its line of military aircraft. When they released the Saab 340 and 2000, Saab only had a few fighter jets. Today, they still produce those same fighter jets, as well as a jet trainer.
Beyond that, they’re also part of a consortium looking to build a sixth generation fighter (for reference, the F-35 is only a fifth generation fighter).
Future Aircraft
Although the failure of the Saab wouldn’t end the concept of turboprop-powered regional airliners completely , it would illustrate to many aircraft manufacturers that what the industry wanted was changing.
Whilst companies like de Havilland Canada and ATR would continue to build their DHC-8, ATR 42 and ATR 72 designs, with them continuing to develop new variants of these airliners (particularly the DCH-8) with extreme caution.
However, when it comes to developing brand new regional airliners, the aircraft were almost exclusively jet-powered, often being developed with the backing of several other aircraft manufacturers in case anything goes wrong.
Surprisingly, however, this hasn’t been the end of brand new turboprop-powered regional airliners. Over the last few years, Cessna have designed and released the Cessna 208 Caravan and the Cessna 408 SkyCourier – both turboprop-powered regional airliners!
What do you think of the Saab 2000? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Photo courtesy of Joolsgriff via Flickr.