Dornier 328 D328eco

In August 2019 the company holding the 328 type certificate announced a final assembly line at Leipzig/Halle airport to relaunch the turboprop. The project was first called 328NEU and in April 2020 became the D328eco, under a new brand — Deutsche Aircraft — because the Dornier name belongs to Airbus and was not available. The venture had public backing: the state of Saxony committed funds and the industrial investment was concentrated in Germany, with the rear fuselage built in Bengaluru, India, from 2025.

The aircraft is not a lightly updated 328. It is stretched by two metres to 23.31 m to carry up to 40 passengers, adopts a current-generation Garmin avionics suite and takes Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127XT-S engines, which raise available power and improve specific fuel consumption somewhat. Maximum take-off mass rises to near that of the 328JET, and the stated targets include operating from 1,000 m runways and cruising at 600 km/h above 9,144 m.

The dates have moved repeatedly: in 2021 first flight was expected in 2024 with service entry in 2025; fabrication of the first prototype did not begin until June 2023, and that aircraft was assembled from the centre section of one Dornier 328 and the nose and empennage of another. Roll-out of the prototype was planned for 28 May 2025 at Oberpfaffenhofen.

The Leipzig plant has been sized for 48 aircraft a year, a figure that says a good deal about the programme's expectations: the aim is not to repeat the 328's historical output but to fill a gap — below 40 seats — that the large manufacturers have abandoned. The first announced customer, with five aircraft, is a German operator that already flies the original 328.