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The SF340 is a twin turboprop regional airliner born of feasibility studies carried out jointly between Sweden-based SaabScania and US manufacturer Fairchild in 1979. The resulting design was launched in September 1980, the first of three SF340 prototypes flew on 25 January 1983 while the first production aircraft flew in early March 1984. US and European certification was awarded in June of the same year.
The aircraft is powered by two 1,735 shp General Electric CT7-5A2 turboprops driving four blade constant speed Dowty or Hamilton Standard props. It can seat up to 35 passengers with a flight crew of two.
Fairchild was responsible for the manufacture of the wings, tail unit and engine nacelles while Saab was responsible for 75 per cent of the costs of development, system integration and certification. The SF340 shared several manufacturing and design techniques with Saab's military aircraft, one being the use of diffusion bonding rather than rivets on the aluminium structures to reduce weight.
From November 1985 Saab assumed overall responsibility for the SF340 and by 1987 Fairchild had ceased to be involved at all. Saab later changed the aircraft designation to 340A.
Deliveries of the 340B began in September 1989. The improved development had more powerful 1,870 shp CT7-9B engines for better hot and high performance, while other changes included a greater span tailplane, a higher maximum take off weight and greater range.
March 1994 saw the first delivery of the 340B Plus, where the installation of an active noise and vibration control system in the cabin reduced noise and vibration levels during cruising flight. It also had extended wingtips and a more modern interior.
Saab ceased 340 production in 1998 and a final 340 delivery took place on 8 June, 1999.
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| World fleet | Charter fleet | Typical pax | Cabin volume | Cruise | Range | Years | |
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| Saab SF340B | ●●● | ●● | ●● | ●●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●● | ●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●● |
| Saab 2000 | ● | ● | ●● | ●●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●● |
| August 9, 2021 | C&L-modified Saabs are the stuff of Legends |
| April 11, 2021 | C&L purchases three Saab 340Bs from Hokkaido |
| November 10, 2020 | ASL ‘maintains a balance’ thanks to smaller jet hours |
| October 6, 2020 | C&L signs with Thomas Global for CRT display |
| January 20, 2020 | IBC gets Saab 340 bang for buck with Becker |
| November 9, 2019 | Air Rarotonga selects Saab for Cook Islands |
| May 22, 2019 | C&L's ADS-B STC gains European approval |
| May 20, 2019 | Sweden's Täby gains design organisation approval |
| November 16, 2018 | C&L earns STC for Saab 340 ADS-B In/Out |
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