The fuel crisis and increasing worries about aircraft noise led business planners at British Aerospace to believe that there was a market for a short-range, low-noise, fuel-efficient turboprop aircraft.
Krisi bahan bakar dan meningkatnya kekhawatiran akan tingkat kebisingan pesawat membuat perencana bisnis di British Aerospace percaya bahwa kebutuhan pasar saat itu adalah pesawat turboprop jarak pendek, rendah kebisingan, dan hemat bahan bakar.