Pascan Aviation (P6, Montréal Metropolitan) will shortly transfer the first Saab 340B(F) to its in-house fleet, after Transport Canada certified the conversion of the turboprop for operations in the country. President and chief executive Julian Roberts told Cargo Facts that while the decision to add the type was opportunistic, demand turned out strong enough to think of more aircraft.
"We’ve been getting calls from other companies moving different kinds of freight. I think there may be a little bit of a niche coming up that we didn’t really expect before. We looked at [the Saab 340 freighter market] as a one-off contract opportunity. But now it’s growing into something else. We already have a second Saab lined up, a full freighter that we’ll hopefully take delivery of early in the new year," he said.
The Canadian airline secured its first Saab 340B(F) on lease from Jetstream Aviation Capital in mid-2024, but due to the lack of Canadian certification for the conversion at that time, it placed it on the certificate of the United States' Castle Aviation. N219JA (msn 340B-219) is currently operating for Pascan Aviation under US registration.
"The range, the amount of weight that we can fly [on the Saabs] seems to be a good fit for a lot of people. There are some nice contracts that I’d like to go after. I have some very, very preliminary discussions with some companies. Between now and the next summer, I may even have a third [Saab 340B(F)] operating here. So obviously, I’m hoping to have two flying daily, and then one is a backup aircraft," Roberts outlined.
He added that thanks to the "great relationship" with Jetstream Aviation Capital, which owns all of Pascan's Saabs, the airline could secure additional airframes with relative ease.
The airline selected the type based on its philosophy of fleet streamlining and single-type operations. Its passenger fleet currently comprises five Saab 340Bs and two Saab 340B(Plus). Roberts emphasised that going forward, Pascan Aviation will focus on the Saab 340 fleet. When it has to renew the fleet in the future, it will aim to remain a single-type operator, although Roberts said it was too early to discuss what type it could then be.
Pascan's previous type was the Jetstream 32. The airline still has six aircraft of the type registered in Canada, although only one is currently active, according to the ch-aviation fleets module. Roberts recalled that when Pascan received an inquiry from an unnamed cargo customer that eventually led to the choice of the Saab 340B(F), it initially thought of using the J32s. However, the aircraft proved too small and the Saab (Sweden) type turned out to be more efficient.
Roberts added that the Saab 340B(F)s allow a single flight where two smaller freighter turboprops would otherwise be used, such as Cessna (single turboprop) Grand Caravans or Beech 1900(F)s. This has opened up the market for Pascan. On the other hand, following the over-expansion of narrowbody freighter capacity during the Covid era, many customers are now looking for smaller aircraft, which also generates demand for the Saabs.
