November this year will mark 30 years since Manx Airlines became the first carrier to take delivery of the British Aerospace (BAe) Jetstream 41. This UK-built turboprop design was a stretched version of the earlier Jetstream 31, which had entered service a decade beforehand. 21 Jetstream 41s remain active today, but where?

Eastern Airways

Of the 21 Jetstream 41s that ch-aviation.com lists as presently being active, nearly 40% fly for the same operator. The airline in question is UK-based regional carrier Eastern Airways, which currently has eight active examples of the type in its fleet, alongside four that are in storage. They have an average age of 27.5 years old.

This makes the type noticeably older than Eastern's other models, but these are far less numerous. Indeed, the rest of its fleet consists of just two ATR 72s and one Embraer E190. As such, the Jetstream 41 still has a very important role to play at the airline. The type is fitted with 29 seats in a one-class, three-abreast layout.

The oldest of Eastern's eight active Jetstream 41s is G-MAJB, which clocks in at 28.71 years of flying. Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, the youngest active example is the 24.95-year-old GG-MAJZ. This aircraft also has the fewest hours, with 28,465 accrued over 29,296 cycles. Eastern's busiest active Jetstream 41 is G-MAJT (27.34 years old), with 34,399 hours across 36,236 flight cycles.

Other scheduled and charter operators

Away from the UK, the Jetstream 41 also has a small role to play at Airlink, a carrier that now holds the title of being South Africa's largest airline. The carrier has a single active Jetstream 41 in its fleet, registered as ZS-NRI. This accompanies five inactive and 11 historical examples. Again, it has a 29-seat, three-abreast setup.

Elsewhere in Africa, Angola's Airjet has two active Jetstream 41s at its disposal, with an average age of 27.1 years old. This is the same amount as Avdef, a French operator which, like Airjet, specializes in charter operations. Back on the scheduled front, another active pair belongs to Nepalese carrier Guna Airlines.

The Jetstream 41 also has a role to play in private and business charter operations, both in the US and the Ivory Coast. The former of these countries is home to Fabair, which has a 15-seat example that Fabick Cat operates on an ACMI basis. Meanwhile, Ivorian operator Corporate Elite Group has one with 14 seats.

BAe_Jetstream_41_'ZS-OEX'_South_African_Airlink_(15945537420)
Airlink has operated 17 Jetstream 41s over the years, but just one is presently active. Photo: Alan Wilson via Wikimedia Commons

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Military and government use

The Jetstream 41 also sees limited usage in military and governmental roles nowadays. For example, the Royal Thai Army flies two examples of the type. These aircraft have an average age of 26 years old, and have served the Thai military since the mid-1990s. Like their passenger counterparts, they each have 29 seats.

Finally, the Government Flying Service of Hong Kong also has a single active Jetstream 41 at its disposal. Registered as B-HRT, this five-seater aircraft serves a maritime patrol role, and, thus, is designated with the 'MPA' suffix. As of March 2016, it had accrued just 9,476 hours of flight across 7,388 takeoff and landing cycles.

What do you make of the Jetstream 41? Have you ever flow on one of these UK-built turboprops? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!