Saab 340B Plus

The Saab 340B Plus is the last production version of the Saab 340 twin-turboprop regional airliner and the one that closed its production run. The family began as the Saab-Fairchild 340, whose first prototype flew on 25 January 1983; after Fairchild left the programme the aircraft became the 340A, and in 1989 the second generation, the 340B, arrived with more powerful engines and wider horizontal stabilisers. The B Plus, regarded as the third generation, entered service in 1994 and incorporated improvements that Saab was introducing at the same time on the Saab 2000, the larger derivative of the 340. In certification terms it is not a new type: the EASA type certificate data sheet (EASA.A.068) only distinguishes the SF340A and the 340B, and the B Plus falls under the latter designation.

The headline improvement was an active cabin noise and vibration control system which, according to English Wikipedia, cut noise and vibration levels by about ten decibels in cruise. The equipment came from the British firm Ultra Electronics: in May 1995 Flight International reported that Ultra's active noise control was standard on the Saab 340 and Saab 2000, and that problems with the first 340s fitted with it had been resolved through hardware and software changes. The sources do not fully agree on how it was rolled out: Wikipedia states that the system became standard on all 340Bs in 1994 and could be retrofitted to aircraft already delivered, whereas Saab, in its 2023 retrospective marking 40 years of the aircraft, dates the arrival of active noise cancelling to "the Saab 340 B+ in 1994".

The second change concerned the wing. The extended wingtips, an optional modification on the initial 340B fitted to approximately 30 aircraft, became standard on the B Plus according to the English Wikipedia article text, although the variant list of the same encyclopedia (and of the Spanish one) only says that "some" aircraft have them. EASA records the extension as Modification No. 2571: span grows from 21.44 m to 22.75 m, modified aircraft have their own flight manuals, and the certification basis includes a special condition on the structural design loads of the wingtip extension. Saab calls this configuration "ExtWT".

The interior was also modernised and, in most third-generation aircraft, the lavatory was moved from the rear of the passenger cabin to just behind the flight deck. This increased the available cargo volume, because in its original position it intruded into the cargo bin.

Saab groups the 340B, the B Plus and the extended-wingtip configuration in a single specification column: length 19.73 m, height 6.97 m, wingspan 21.44 m (22.75 m with ExtWT), maximum cruise speed 524 km/h (283 kt), maximum operating altitude 7,620 m, maximum fuel 2,580 kg and maximum payload 3,400 kg. The powerplant is that of the 340B: two General Electric CT7-9B turboprops rated at 1870 shp (1394 kW) maximum take-off power, driving four-bladed Dowty Rotol or Hamilton Sundstrand propellers. The EASA data sheet specifies that the 1870 shp figure is the take-off rating with automatic reserve power (APR) and that the normal take-off rating is 1750 shp. Like the rest of the family, the cabin typically seated between 30 and 36 passengers, with 34 seats the most common configuration.

A total of 100 B Plus aircraft were built, with serial numbers 340B-360 to 340B-459, bringing the B-series total to 300. Their production life coincided with the programme's decline: Saab built 15 regional aircraft in 1994 and planned 30 to 40 in 1995, but on 24 December 1997 it announced that it would end production of the 340 and the 2000. The last 340 was delivered on 8 June 1999; according to English Wikipedia, the last two built were completed in the older 36-seat configuration for Japan Air Commuter. Altogether 459 Saab 340s of all versions were produced.

One of the earliest examples, the third B Plus built, was delivered new to Australia's Hazelton Airlines in 1995, later flew for Rex Airlines and now serves with the Japan Coast Guard. US carrier Silver Airways placed its first 340B+ into service at the end of March 2012 on its Bahamas network after receiving FAA approval; it was the first of 12 the airline had purchased. In military service, the Argentine Air Force had one 340B Plus with its I Air Brigade, and the Swedish Air Force used 340B and B Plus aircraft as VIP transports under the designation Tp 100. The SAR-200 search-and-rescue version for the Japan Coast Guard, derived from the B Plus, has its own entry.