The Fokker 50 is based on the stretched F27-500 airframe but with a larger number of smaller windows in the fuselage and a two-wheel nose gear. The basic construction of the fuselage, wings and tail remained unchanged apart from strengthening various sections where required.
The wing is equipped with upturned ailerons and wingtips which effectively act as winglets while the flight deck was updated with more modern avionics, navigation and communication equipment.
The Fokker 50 can carry up to sixty-two passengers over a range of 2,000 km (1,243 miles) at a typical cruise speed of 286 knots (329 mph / 530 km/h) which is a 27 knot (31 mph / 50 km/h) increase over the Fokker F27.
The five Fokker 50s operated by Alliance Airlines are configured to comfortably accommodate fifty-two passengers.
The major design change from the Fokker F27 was in the engines and equipping the aircraft with an electronic flight and engine management system. The Rolls-Royce Darts which powered the F27 were replaced with more fuel efficient Pratt & Whitney Canada PW125B (PW127B for the Fokker 60 ) powerplants driving six-bladed Dowty Rotol propellers.
