The aircraft had a quiet interior and good payload, but the range was low and it had a single seat cockpit in the forward-most position.

The Fokker F.XXXVI registered PH-AJA first flew on 22 June 1934 and was a high-wing cantilever monoplane with a fixed tailwheel landing gear.

It was powered by four Wright Cyclone radial piston engines mounted in the wing leading edge, and carried 4 crew and 32 passengers in four eight-seat cabins.

Although it had a good payload it was aerodynamically and structurally inferior to the Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 preferred by Fokker's main customer, KLM.

It featured retractable landing gear with hydraulic suspension and four 850 hp (634 kW) Wright GR-1820-G Cyclone engines.