Saab 2000 info?

[bentandtwisted]

I am doing some research on the Saab 2000 for our company and I'm after some feed back from operators and pilots of the Saab 2000.
How reliable have they been?
What has the support been like from Saab?
What is a typical fuel burn per hour?
What do the passengers think of them?
Thank you.

[fokkerjet]

Talk with General Motors about their Saab 2000's. They have three that they used for corporate shuttle work for a short time and have been trying to sell them for over a year, maybe two. Rumor has it that Saab offered to buy them back at scrap value, or at least the value of the engines. Every now and then one flies to knock the dust off it and keep a couple of pilots current, just in case!

[Jim lovell]

Why was this aircraft not a good seller?? Afterall it had good capacity(60-80 pax?),good speed- 250-300 kts- why was it never a commercial success??

[Capt Zero Zero]

I'm with you Jim it seemed to be a great aircraft. 360 KTAS, could carry 50 pax (and bags)1000nm and operate out of 1200m runways.
Crossair has a fleet of 30+ and they seem to have no problems with them. Perharps someone from Crossair could give us some more information.

[GAFA]

The problems with the Saab 2000 are:
1. It has propellers.
2. The cabin noise level was/is a lot higher than what Saab said it would be.
3. To lower the cabin noise the propellers have to be dynamically balanced(need to spare propellers).
Other common problems include, nosewheel steering, propeller gearbox and all kind of engine accessories.

[Direct Turnberry]

From what I understand about the poor sales history of the SAAB 2000, one of the main problems was that the EMB 145 was available at a significantly cheaper price. As a result airlines went with the jet.

I used to regularly be a passenger on SAAB 2000 flights and it was the best turboprop i've ever flown on.

With regard to support from SAAB, I flew the SAAB 340 for several years and was always very impressed with the support that SAAB provided.

[JetPack]

TAS 360 Knots, 850-950 kg per hour. Cabin is very quite, on par with older jets (ie 727).
Passengers seem happy with the cabin, there is good leg room.
On a 500nm flight it would only be about 5 minutes behind a jet. It will climb to F310 in about 16 minutes.

[Jim lovell]

Here are some figures i managed to find on the Saab 200:

Powerplant:2 4,152 SHP Allison turboprops
Max cruising speed: 368 kt(680 km/h)
Service ceiling: 31,000 ft
Max range: 1,380 nm
MTOW: 22,000 kg
Capacity: 50 seats

All in all sounds and looks like a lovely aircraft, pity it never sold well.

[prez]

Flew for Crossair a few years ago. I seem to believe that there were some initial teething problems, but the company was very positive about it. I remember sitting next to Moritz Suter at dinner one evening and him telling us that one of the best things about the SAAB 2000 was that the breakeven load factor was about 12 pax, just a few more than the 340. It's been awhile, so I don't know what their position on the aircraft is now. Also, I remember that they received money from SAAB because the aircraft did not meet the noise levels as promised.

prez