Anyone out there help on how many of these aircraft have been delivered and who's got them..so far i think Air Zimbabwe, Lao Airlines and possibly Merpati have them....any serials/registrations welcome?

Depending on which source you believe, there are around 20 aircraft that have rolled off the production line so far.  Con numbers and registrations are unknown for a few aircraft, but the following list is up-to-date as of January 2007.

Aircraft are listed by c/n, reg and operator:

0101  B-3425  Sichuan Airlines

0102  B-3430  Wuhan Airlines

0103  B-3431  Wuhan Airlines

0104  [unknown]  Chinese Air Force

0105  B-3432  Wuhan Airlines

0201  B-4071  China United Airlines

0202  B-3426  Sichuan Airlines

0203  B-3429  Xian Aircraft (demonstrator)

0204  B-4072  China United Airlines

0302  Z-WPJ  Air Zimbabwe

0303  Z-WPK  Air Zimbabwe

0304  Z-WPL  Air Zimbabwe

0401  AF607  Zambian Air Force

0402  RDPL-34168  Laos Airlines

0403  RDPL-34169  Laos Airlines

0404  AF608  Zambian Air Force

Merpati are due to take delivery of their first aircraft this month - c/n and reg are unknown at this point.  For further info, the 'official' MA-60 site is worth a read - http://www.ma60.com/

Titch

Well, it's been a while since the status of these An-24 'rip-offs' was updated, so here goes:

Since the last post, Merpati have taken delivery of two aircraft (namely PK-MZA [c/n 0407] and PK-MZB [c/n 0409]), these being inducted into the fleet at the end of August this year.

Also, the Zambian Air Force have reportedly taken another example, AF608 [c/n 0408], also in August.

If anybody out there has any updates on the MA-60, please keep them coming in!

As an aside, at least two of the ex-Air Zimbabwe aircraft (Z-WPK and Z-WPL) are now back in China, having been returned to AVIC I for onward sale to another operator.  Any further info on their status is also welcomed.

Titch