Hellenic National Fokker 28

The introduction of the Convair 880 made Hellenic acknowledge that turbine jet aircraft are the future for them. Seeking a short range regional jet airliner in 1965, Hellenic made use of Fokker's F-28 concept aircraft in the works and ordered 12 as a launch customer. These were to replace the HS 748 operating on domestic routes since they were needed on island-hopper lines instead, they were getting obsolete quite quickly on their function. The F-28 served a long life with Hellenic from 1969 till being fully replaced in 1991 as part of a cost reduction programme and due to the aircraft aging. All 17 F-28s except for two were scrapped. The rest ended up in private hands.



SX-APP was introduced in 1969 as Hellenic's first F-28. It was first equipped with 4 abreast setting, seating up to 40 passengers. In 1982 the F-27 fleet underwent a retrofit, the galley and entrance area had been made smaller to add more seats, as well as the galley in the back, and the seating was changed into a 3-2, increasing the capacity to upwards of 65. The 4-abreast setting was envisioned during early 1965 as Hellenic usually focused mainly on quality and comfort to gain more demand from passengers.