automation were areas of major advances of the Fokker 50 over its predecessor. Fokker partnered with several companies to manufacture portions of the Fokker 50; these included the wing being produced by Belgian aerospace firm SABCA, fuselage sections made by French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation, flaps and other components manufactured by German aerospace company Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB), and vertical stabilizers and horizontal stabilizers built by Japanese multinational corporation Fuji Heavy Industries. A pair of prototypes, derived from F27 airframes, were produced; on 28 December 1985, the first of these prototypes performed its maiden flight. In 1987, certification of the Fokker 50 by the Dutch aviation authority RLD was successfully completed, and the first production aircraft was subsequently delivered to German airline DLT Luftverkehrsgesellschaft (DLT). DLT and Ansett Australia served as the airliner's launch customers. Termination and further development During 1994, Fokker had been incurring sizable losses on its operations, which led to cuts in the output of the Fokker 50 and threatened its long term viability. During early 1995, the firm embarked upon a major restructuring programme, including efforts to renegotiate prices with its suppliers, in what was viewed by aerospace publication Flight International as a last-ditch effort to save the company in its current form. By July 1995, Fokker was in negotiations with the Dutch government over the terms for a potential bailout of the company as losses continued to mount. Fokker's owner, Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG (DASA), had agreed to provide a rescue deal for the company, but this was contingent upon Dutch government participation. In March 1996, production of the Fokker 50 was terminated as a consequence of Fokker itself having been forced into a state of bankruptcy. The financial difficulties suffered by the firm had been in part caused by the massive cost overruns which had been incurred on both the Fokker 50 and Fokker 100, as well as due to intense competition within the regional airliner sector that Fokker had designed and marketed these aircraft towards, which had not been helped by delays to the program in the face of multiple modern competitors in the form of the Saab 340, ATR 42 and Bombardier Dash 8. Despite repeated increases cost-efficiency of production realised within the final 12 months of production, these did not prove enough to save the company. During 1997, as a result of the company having entered into liquidation, the final Fokker 50 aircraft was