Just curious as to what you mean by STOL ? Rome Madrid and Lagos all have long runways so why the Short takeoff and landing requirement ? The payload you are talking about is around five to five and a half tonnes. There are many civil airliners that can lift this very light payload over the range you require. 757 would do it with ease and with much capacity to spare ( about 18 tonnes spare !) . Various 737 models could also accomodate. No doubt a whole host of transports would fit the bill on the face of it. What is the limiting factor ? Are you proposing operating from a private airstrip or something ? A 757 could probably manage this with around 5000 ft of runway, but it very much depends on other factors such as terrain / obstacle clearance etc. Additionally moving 50 odd passengers requires other infrastructure normally found at large major airports such as customs / immigration, fuel availability, handling support, engineering cover etc. It is often simply impractical to operate to airfields where these things are not available because the cost of providing them on a one off basis may negate the advantage that is otherwise sought.
Last edited by Bealzebub; 12th February 2005 at 00:41.