Used to see the early F-28's doing holiday charters at Palma, Mallorca from 1969 onwards as the holiday airlines were some of the very first F-28 operators.
LTU, Germanair, Martinair, Aviacion, flying from Germany and Holland
(PH-MAT of Martinair going to MMA Miller VH-FKF and D-AHLB of Aviacion to MMA Miller as VH-FKG)
Braathens, Linjeflyg, both flying down from Scandinavia to the Med, often with a stop at RTM.
Iberia also ordered three aircraft. They were regularly seen operating as far afield as Heathrow.
Despite LTU being the official launch customer, their first aircraft was damaged the day after delivery on February 24, 1969 and needed its starboard wing replaced. The aircraft had been attempting take-off on a demonstration flight from Hanover but ice contamination on the wing caused a roll to the left on rotation and the wing to impact the ground. The aircraft was successfully landed but the right wing, flaps and ailerons were badly damaged.
This enabled Braathens to steal the day and put its first F28-1000 into service earlier, on March 28. It had received its second aircraft the day before also. Braathens used its F28s on domestic scheduled routes but also charter operations to the Mediterranean. In fact, the initial service was a Stavanger-Rotterdam-Palma service. LTU finally started operations on April 2, 1969 and put the type straight into service between Dusseldorf and Palma de Mallorca. At this time all of LTU’s service departed from their base in Dusseldorf.
LTU appeared to have found the F28 less suitable to its increasing operations. It acquired a further pair of new build aircraft in 1971 (D-ABAN and D-ABAM) but all four aircraft were sold on in 1973/74. Soon afterwards LTU was purchasing new, and nearly new L-1011 Tristars to complement its Caravelles so it may have been that the F28 was simply too small for its charter operations by the mid-70s.
Fokker’s move into pure jets was a risk that took a long while to pay off. Interestingly far from being a ‘regional’ type aircraft the earliest F-28 operators saw the Fellowship as a mainline aircraft and it was not unusual to see the type in operation on charter routes from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean that in later years would occupy an A300 or a Tristar. Although the above airlines ordered the Fellowship early on for Inclusive Tour holiday charter flights, the small niche jet was OK with 65 seats for the near Mediterranean, but because the range of the Fokker F-28 was too low, the companies could not offer non-stop connections to the important winter destinations in the Canary Islands and many aircraft were sold on and Fokker lost orders.