Deutsche Aircraft Opens D328eco Final Assembly Line at Leipzig/Halle, Returning Aircraft Building to Saxony

Deutsche Aircraft (DA) formally inaugurated the Final Assembly Line (FAL) for its D328eco turboprop regional airliner at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Saxony, Germany, on 29 September 2026. Aircraft assembly returns to Saxony for the first time since 1961, when the East German Baade 152 airliner programme, the last aircraft built in the state, was cancelled.

The 60,500 m2 facility was completed in 18 months with an investment of €100 million. It is designed to assemble up to 48 D328eco aircraft per year by 2030, once certification and industrial ramp-up are complete. The FAL has eight stations covering airframe assembly, installation of items such as engines and the APU, and cabin fit-out. The site also houses flight readiness and logistics centres and an administrative headquarters, and is expected to provide at least 250 direct jobs. It was designed to be carbon neutral, with rooftop solar power, a water recapture system and battery-powered ground support equipment.

DA CEO Nico Neumann said that for the first time in more than 60 years, every phase of the aircraft cycle will be integrated under a German aircraft programme. Speakers included VP Operations and Production Sebastian Böhnl, Christian Hirte (Bundestag Parliamentary Secretary for Transport), Dirk Panter (Saxony's State Minister for Business, employment, energy and climate protection) and Rayk Bergner (Mayor of Schkeuditz). Political support was framed around economic development, employment and national sovereignty, including the aircraft's potential as a military and parapublic multi-role platform.

The D328eco is a modernised version of the Dornier 328, first certificated in 1993. The original type certificate, inherited by Sierra Nevada Corporation, which established DA in 2020, is the baseline for D328eco certification. Compared with the Do328-110, the fuselage is 2.2 m longer, raising capacity to 40 passengers from 30-33. It uses Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127XT-S engines, fully compatible with Sustainable Aviation Fuel, which DA says deliver 40% longer time on wing, 20% lower direct maintenance costs and 3% better specific fuel consumption, and a Garmin G5000 Prime touch-screen flight deck.

The only publicly acknowledged order interest is a Letter of Intent for five aircraft from German charter airline Private Wings, which operates nine legacy Do328s. The largest legacy operator is the USAF, with about 20 aircraft designated C-146A Wolfhound, and DA showed the D328MR multi-role variant at ILA Berlin 2026.

The line fits the way the sub-50-seat turboprop segment is being rebuilt: not with clean-sheet designs, but by re-engining and re-equipping certificated airframes. Starting from a 1993 type certificate shortens the path to a new product, but it also ties the programme's timeline to certification work that is still ahead. Capacity of 48 aircraft per year is a ceiling set for 2030, and it says little about how many aircraft will actually be ordered.

The competitive set is thin, which is the opening DA is aiming at. The nearest in-production rival is the 48-50-seat ATR 42-600, while older Saab 340 and DHC Dash 8-300 fleets, at around 32 and 25 years old respectively, may need replacement. A 40-seat aircraft sits between those categories, and a market that small can absorb a new line only if a handful of anchor customers commit. At this point a five-aircraft Letter of Intent from Private Wings is the sole order interest acknowledged in public.

The military and parapublic angle matters to the economics as much as the airline one. Government framing around sovereignty and the D328MR variant shown at ILA Berlin 2026 suggest a second demand stream, with the USAF's roughly 20 C-146A Wolfhounds as the largest legacy operator. The milestone that would test the thesis is the conversion of the Private Wings letter into a firm order, alongside completion of D328eco certification.