It was decided that the new airliner would be a derivative of its predecessor, sharing much of its airframe and design features, while incorporating new advances and several improvements, such as the adoption of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127B turboprop engines, in order to produce a successor that had a 30 percent reduction in fuel consumption over the F27.

[1] As a result of these modifications, such as the adoption of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127B turboprop engines, Fokker was able to progressively reduce the F27's fuel consumption by 30 per cent.

[6][7] 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.

[8][9] 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.

[14] As early as May 1996, proposals for the partial or complete restart of production of the type were mooted, amongst these being interest from Indian aerospace firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in establishing a Fokker 50 assembly line in India, however these did not come about.

In 2005, a pair of Fokker 60s (U-01, U-03) were converted to serve as maritime patrol aircraft as a temporary solution when it was decided to phase out the Royal Netherlands Navy P-3 Orions as a result of budget cuts.

Due to the Royal Netherlands Air Force having decided to procure two extra Lockheed C-130s, the Fokker 60s were phased out.

[18] There were some changes made to specific areas of the aircraft, such as the wing being equipped with upturned ailerons and wingtips that effectively acted as wing endplates or winglets, it was also fitted with a larger number of smaller windows in the fuselage and a new two-wheel nose gear configuration, the latter enabling stable operations under uneven crosswind conditions.

The original Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines that had powered various marks of the F27, which had broadly provided between 1,268 and 1715 kW (1,700-2,300 hp), were replaced by a pair of more fuel efficient Pratt & Whitney Canada PW124 powerplants, each capable of generating 1,864 kW (2,500 hp), which drove sets of six-bladed Dowty Rotol propellers.

[18] The airliner features four external doors along with integral airstairs, which enables quicker turnaround times through the faster egress and boarding of passengers and crew alike.

Features such as an auxiliary power unit (APU), new generation slim seating and LED lighting in the cabin are also available as options and can be retrofitted to existing aircraft based upon customer demand.

[18] Although of possessing a design heavily dependent upon a previous generation of airliners, the Fokker 50 has often been highly appreciated by owners and pilots alike for its reliability, economics and flight characteristics.