Deutsche Aircraft intends to assemble a modernized variant of the Dornier 328 turboprop aircraft on the site of Leipzig/Halle Airport. The symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for the future plant took place in the middle of this week.

"We at Deutsche Aircraft are very proud of our state-of-the-art, paperless and climate-friendly new final assembly line," says Nico Neumann (COO, DeutscheAircraft). The line will be designed, built and operated according to industry best practices and sustainability principles, the company promises. “This is an important milestone in our D328eco program and we are pleased that with this move we are meeting our program goals,” added Dave Jackson (CEO, Deutsche Aircraft).

The Dornier 328 is the last airliner to be developed purely in Germany. It was sold as both a jet and a turboprop. At the time it was considered the "Mercedes of the air", which was also due to the fact that DASA was once the owner of Dornier. Among other things, due to high acquisition costs and inefficient fuel consumption, the Do 328 was more of a slow seller, but it was able to establish itself in niche segments.

The current further development D328eco is not in the historical tradition of Dornier, because as Fairchild-Dornier they went bankrupt. The new company wants to bring the model onto the market in such a way that it can also be operated with 100 percent SAF.

"With the new production line from Deutsche Aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport, our airport will become one of the beacons of sustainable air traffic. The D328eco sets standards in terms of climate-friendly production and environmentally friendly flying," says MDF-AG boss Götz Ahmelmann.