Japan Air Commuter (JC, Kagoshima) has confirmed it has now ended Saab 340B operations as of Friday, December 20, 2019. The JAL Group subsidiary said in a statement its sole remaining Saab (Sweden), JA8703 (msn 355), conducted its last revenue flight as JAC3784 from Kikaiga Shima to Kagoshima.
The turboprops had been due to leave service on November 30 only for that date to be delayed following uncertainty as to the arrival of replacement ATR42-600, JA09JC (msn 1414). The latter's arrival and deployment into service on December 18 paved the way for JA8703's retirement.
As it stands, JAC operates an all-ATR fleet of seven ATR42-600s and two ATR72-600s.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, HAC - Hokkaido Air System (NTH, Hakodate) is Japan's only remaining operator of the Saab 340 with four currently in service.
