Deutsche Aircraft this week opened the final assembly line at Leipzig Halle Airport in northeast Germany, where it will build its D328eco regional airliner. The start-up is working to certify a model that modernizes the 1990s-era Dornier 328 twin turboprop with new Pratt & Whitney Canada PW12XT-S turboprops and a Garmin G5000 Prime flight deck.
While Deutsche Aircraft’s Oberpfaffenhofen base in Bavaria will remain the home of its engineering, flight testing and certification activities, the Leipzig site will serve as the centre for aircraft assembly, flight testing and customer deliveries. The company has invested €100 million ($113 million) in a 651,217-sq-ft site it said will have capacity to build up to 48 aircraft each year, with new employees set to start work there in the coming months.
The Leipzig facility was officially inaugurated during an event on September 29. “For the first time in more than 60 years, every phase of the aircraft lifecycle will be integrated under a German aircraft program,” Deutsche Aircraft CEO Nico Neumann commented.
The D328eco’s journey can trace its roots back to the original Fairchild Dornier 328 turboprop, which made its first flight in 1991. In 2006, the newly-founded 328 Support Services took over the type certificate rights for the D328. This was subsequently acquired in 2015 by U.S. aerospace and engineering company Sierra Nevada Corporation, which in 2020 established Deutsche Aircraft with the aim providing a more fuel efficient design for the regional airline market.
During the May 2025 rollout of its first D328eco prototype, Deutsche Aircraft stated it was targeting type certification under EASA CS25 and FAA Part-25 rules in time for service entry during the fourth quarter of 2027. In addition to the new engines and avionics, the modern-day design features Acron Aviation flight recorders.
According to the company, the opening of the Leipzig site marks the transition of the aircraft program from development to serial production using advanced manufacturing technologies, automated logistics systems and paperless production processes. It said the move also symbolises a new era for both an evolving aircraft and the German aerospace industry, building on what the OEM defined as “Germany’s rich aviation heritage and Dornier’s pioneering legacy.”
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