regional carrier, in a four-abreast, 40-seat
con guration, with a seat pitch of 32in (81cm).
POOR SALES
Despite many attempts to market the aircraft
there was little appetite for it from the airlines.
Even Lufthansa declined the opportunity
to order any, citing their principal interest
at the time as being long-haul rather than
regional operations. Plans for a stretched
VFW 614-200 with seating for up to 56
passengers came to nothing, as the end of
the programme was in sight.
In 1977 production came to an end.
However, Romania, which had expressed
an interest in producing as many as
100 aircraft under licence, continued
negotiations with the company, but to no
avail. Development costs had reached
650 million Deutschmarks (more than
six billion euros at today’s rates). The
workforce was devastated at the huge
loss of jobs and there were loud public
protests. The politicians saw it differently,
viewing the termination of the project as
a worthwhile price to pay for restoring
VFW to health in anticipation of the Airbus
project. Fokker left the project when
production ended in 1977.
A SAD END
By 1981, the manufacturer had bought back
many of the aircraft, in order to continue to
support the few that were still in operation.
Three new examples were test- own but
never delivered, and four airframes were
broken up before completion. The aircraft
that delivered the longest service were the
three operated by the Luftwaffe, and the last
example was retired from its eet in 1998.
Cimber Air in total operated ve examples
becoming the biggest operator of the type.
The other two operators, both French
regional carriers were Touraine Air Transport
(TAT) which purchased two aircraft from
its original order for eight, while Air Alsace
added two to its eet. A number of other
VFW 614, D-BABG, in its bright TAT paint scheme in October
- AirTeamImages.com/ATI Collection
‘The aircraft’s
initial air test was
also the fi rst fl ight for
the engines, with no
fl ying test-bed trials
having taken place’
http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 81
The cockpit of Kemble’s
VFW 614, D-ASDB. Emma
Harris/Resource Group