Air Chathams schedules Convair 580 retirement

Air Chathams has announced that it will retire its final Convair 580 on 17 September 2021. The propliner involved is ZK-CIB (327A) which has been part of the fleet since June 1996.

Originally, the airline had planned to retire the Convair at the end of July but new lockdowns due to the Corona-pandemic warranted an extension and use the aircraft for domestic cargo flights. Air Chathams retired its other final two Convairs, ZK-KFL (372) and ZK-CIE (399) in October 2020 and April 2021. Retirement was unavoidable as maintenance costs would become too high due to a lack of spare-parts.

Air Chatham's fleet now consists of one ATR72 and three Saab 340s, three Swearingen Metroliners, one Cessna 206 and a DC-3.

Photo by Air Chathams.