In 1996, Dutch aerospace company Fokker went bankrupt. It was the end of a company that had been building planes since 1912. Even though it wasn’t the end of the Dutch aerospace industry, no new Fokkers would be delivered, and thousands of people lost their job.
Fourteen years later, Dutch entrepreneur Rosen Jacobsen has found support (and money) from the Dutch government to bring Fokker back to life, and start making planes again.
The reborn company is currently called “Rekkof” (Fokker spelled backwards), and Jacobsen hopes to relaunch with a new version of the successful Fokker 100 called the 100 NG.
Whether or not the new Fokker will actually succeed depends on support from the European Union, and whether the immense amounts of money required to develop a new plane can be found.
The first 20 million Euros have already been found, which is a decent start. Rekkof hopes to have the first Fokker 100 NG in operation in just 5 years – which seems like an overly ambitious plan. For the new plane to become successful, airlines will need to order at least 40 of the new planes. I wish them a lot of luck.
I’ve got to say, I’ve never been a huge fan of Fokkers, but that may be related to the 100’s of trips I had to make on them between the UK and the Netherlands on Air UK. Still, saying “Fokker” as often as possible is a fun and juvenile pleasure.