Rekkof Aircraft is a Dutch company dedicated to restarting the production of upgraded versions of the Fokker 70 and Fokker 100 regional jets as production of those stopped when Fokker was declared bankrupt in 1996. They first announced their plans in late 2003 and intended to first re-launch the Fokker F70NG (NG standing for Next Generation) and if enough orders were placed later also the Fokker F100NG. Notable changes on the NG models would have been winglets and different engines. A possible third unnamed stretched version of the aircraft had also been mentioned.
Rekkof believes there is a sufficient market for the aircraft and that the design can still compete with similar modern regional airliners from manufacturers as Embraer and Bombardier Aerospace. However, while the announcement of a launch customer and the production re-start have been called "imminent" by Rekkof a number of times between early 2004 and mid-2005, none of Rekkof's plans have materialised to date. KLM, a current user of Fokker aircraft and suggested as a launch customer, has denied that they are in negotiations with Rekkof and has Embraer regional jets on order to replace their Fokker fleet.
In March 2010 it was announced that the Dutch government granted the company a 20 million Euro loan to help develop the aircraft. Though Rekkof has stated that it prefers to assemble the aircraft in the Netherlands, with Lelystad Airport and Enschede Airport Twente mentioned as possible assembly locations, Bangalore in India had also been mentioned as a possible location with Indian engineering firm Cades Digitech having stated they were planning to invest 300 million US dollars in an assembly plant[1]. Construction on an aircraft parts plant started in November 2011 in the Brazilian state of Goiás in the city of Anápolis (some 35 mi/55 km from state capital Goiânia).[2][3]
In released promotional render, a new design called the Fokker F100NXT is shown, with the most notable difference being a redesigned wing, lacking the winglets proposed for the Fokker F100NG. In mid-2008 a new website was launched, and the new design was renamed to XF100.
Rekkof Aircraft is a part of Panta Holdings BV, which also owned Denim Air and VLM Airlines, both operating Fokker F50 aircraft. Denim Air has stopped flying however, while VLM Airlines has been sold to Air France-KLM and has become a part of their daughter Cityjet.