At the beginning of this year it was announced that the former PH-KBX (KBX stands for Queen Beatrix) was up for sale. The Fokker 70 has flown around Australia as a VIP aircraft in recent years, but made its final flight in August 2023.
A government agency for decades
Fokker delivered the luxurious KBX to the Dutch government in 1996, which used the aircraft to transport high-ranking politicians, military personnel and members of the royal family. King Willem-Alexander regularly sat behind the wheel of the white-and-orange government plane.
KBX was retired by the Dutch government in 2017 and was succeeded two years later by PH-GOV, a Boeing 737 BBJ2. But the Fokker wasn’t done with its Dutch career. Alliance Airlines, now the largest remaining Fokker user, operated VIP flights in Australia until last year.
The interior design is almost the same as it was when the machine was still a PH-KBX, Peter van Oostrom, who was appointed as broker for the sale, previously reported to Luchtvaartnieuws. There are twelve VIP seats up front that can be configured into six beds, and another twelve luxury seats in the back. There is also an on-board kitchen fore and aft, two lavatories and plenty of luggage space.
