Deutsche Aircraft NEWS

Steady Progress!

It is with great pleasure that I write to you again today.

In our last newsletter, we discussed the progression of new offices and building space in Oberpfaffenhofen as well as several other relevant topics. Today, the focus would be to update you on our product and program development, as well as latest organization build up.

First of all, we held our first Customer Advisory Boards (CAB) at the end of last year. More than 10 participating companies attended from all continents providing valuable feedback which we are integrating into the aircraft design, to further enhance the attractive proposition of the D328ecoTM. The feedback covered design and operational topics. Lively discussions and presentations of all topics important to a customer closed some of the interviews we had.

With these further elements in hand together with the work of the engineering, program and supply chain teams we were also able to conclude our PDR – Product Design Review - last month, with a significantly enhanced product which we will further report in this newsletter.

The concept phase and the customer feedback from our recent CAB took us a step further in regard to the D328eco development as we managed to enhance our product not only through the feedback of potential customers but also via advanced discussion with some of our key suppliers.

Further aerodynamic studies and wind tunnel testing work on the D328eco program have successfully been carried out. This marks the first achievement of a long series of in-situ tests where results and progress will be regularly highlighted over the coming months by the team.

Another milestone recently achieved as regards the production process, was the creation of a digital twin and physical demonstrator of the wing spar box together with umlaut, and manufacturing partner HEGGEMANN. As an outcome, a production of the wing spar box has been proven to be possible in an efficient highly automated and sustainable way.

As a result of all the hard work, our teams have successfully achieved the current program milestones, and further adjustments, as a result of the design review and inputs received from customers and suppliers, we are now targeting the D328eco certification towards in the second half of 2026.

In line with this progress and the continued ramp up of our teams, we have recently opened the hiring process for the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Leipzig, where ground breaking is planned for the end of 2022/beginning of 2023.

Last but not least, I am also pleased to announce important enhancement in our senior leadership team, with the recent addition of Nico Buchholz as acting Chief Commercial Officer.

Combining all of the above you can understand why we can be proud and thrilled about the progress we have made, and are looking forward to an exciting future. Currently we are preparing ourselves for the upcoming conferences and airshows in ILA Berlin (22 – 26 June) and Farnborough Air Show (18 – 22 July) where Deutsche Aircraft will be present.

Enjoy the read,

Dave Jackson.

Organization Strengthening

In order to enhance our global commercial footprint we are pleased to announce Nico Buchholz as part of the leadership team as acting Chief Commercial Officer. Nico has already been providing consulting support to Deutsche Aircraft and is also familiar with many of the topics and challenges we are currently working on. His key responsibilities at Deutsche Aircraft will be the management of the aircraft sales process – including contracts and marketing support, as well as external communications.

Nico’s extensive industry experience includes work with Airbus, Bombardier, Delta, GOAL, Lufthansa and others where he held senior positions in Marketing and Sales, Customer business, procurement, strategy and fleet management as well as board positions. Nico also runs his own business and is a coach for several start-ups in the aviation field.

Following the recent completion of the Preliminary Design Review phase. We are now moving towards CDR and our industrialization activities. This is aimed at embracing new technology opportunities and blending these into the D328eco. As a consequence of these developments, Martin Nüßeler is leaving the company to explore new opportunities. We appreciate his contribution towards the program and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

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Finally, due to personal reasons, Jose Costas, Vice President Sales & Marketing, has decided to relocate back to Lisbon where he will continue to provide ongoing sales support in a consulting capacity. We would like to thank him for the contribution during his time at Deutsche Aircraft, in Oberpfaffenhofen.

Engineering / program updates

The D328eco program just completed the Concept Phase and is now entering the Detailed Design Phase. Focus on the derivate development in the first key phase of the program was on justification of the aircraft configuration with the stretched fuselage by analysis and wind tunnel campaigns. Major progress was made towards the full digitalisation of the airframe. A crucial step to ensure a successful industrial set up of the aircraft, which includes but is not limited to 2D/3D activities, definition dossier and new systems architectures development.

On the supply chain side, we have seen a raising interest from the industry and received positive and constructive feedback from key partners supporting the program on the airframe, propulsion and system level. Being able to rely upon key partners which have shown high level of commitment to the Program, despite the current global geopolitical situation crisis the world is facing.

Further aerodynamic studies and wind tunnel testing work on the D328eco program have successfully been carried out.

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Last but not least, the new FAL concept for the building located in Leipzig Airport was completed and phase 2 of the building specification successfully achieved.

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• An important step towards climate-neutral passenger aircraft.

• Promising hydrogen fuel cell system in the megawatt range is being developed and will be demonstrated in flight by 2025.

• Ten partners from science and industry are thus jointly promoting flying with hydrogen.

• A Dornier 328 is to become a demonstration aircraft for climate-neutral flights in the EASA large aircraft class ("CS25").

• Participating DLR spin-off H2FLY strengthens DLR's strategic position in the field of technology transfer.

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The climate-neutral aviation of tomorrow needs CO2-free propulsion technologies. For regional aircraft, hydrogen-electric propulsion systems with hydrogen fuel cell technology offer a promising option. This technology is now receiving a strong boost from the "328H2-FC" project. Led by the German Aerospace Center ((Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) in cooperation with H2FLY, Deutsche Aircraft, Diehl Aviation and six other partners, the project is the first to develop a fuel cell system with with a power output of one and a half megawatts for use in flight. The project opens up a technological perspective for future regional aircrafts in the 40-seater class. At the beginning of 2022, The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz; BMWK) handed over the funding notification. The BMWK is funding the realisation of the first megawatt hydrogen fuel cell system for air transport with approximately 30 million Euros.

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Within the framework of the partnership, a Dornier 328 aircraft will be converted to be used for hydrogen-electric passenger flights for the first time. This involves the electrification of the powertrain and the integration of a fuel cell system, including a cooling system and a liquid hydrogen tank.. The "328H2-FC" project paves the way for proving the potential of hydrogen for climate-neutral air travel. The unique hybrid-electric powered demonstration aircraft for EASA's large aircraft class ("CS25") is scheduled to take off for the first time in 2025. Before that, tests of the fuel cell system are planned using a new ground-based test facility at DLR.

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Prof. Dr. Josef Kallo, co-founder and CEO of H2FLY: "With this funding, H2FLY will extend its lead as a global technology leader in the field of hydrogen-electric propulsion. Flying with hydrogen without CO2 emissions will become a reality."

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Dr Anna Christmann Member of the Bundestag (Federal Parliament) and Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy: "H2FLY is an important building block for the future strategy of emission-free aviation. With the project funded by the BMWK, we have the unique opportunity to further expand the technological lead in flying with hydrogen here in Germany. With our funding, we are enabling research to overcome the technical challenges of using hydrogen in aviation."

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Prof. André Thess, Director of the DLR Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics:: "With a fuel cell that generates more than one megawatt of power, we are pushing open the door to climate-neutral passenger aviation without CO2 emissions. At DLR's Stuttgart site, we will test the new technology extensively before moving on to aircraft integration and initial flight tests. By the end of the decade, such passenger aircrafts could already be in commercial operation."

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Martin Nüßeler, CTO of Deutsche Aircraft: "Our Dornier 328 is the optimal platform for demonstrating the new fuel cell technology. We can thus bring technology into real environmental conditions and accelerate our path towards climate-neutral aviation."

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Benno Petersen, Head of Innovation and R&T at Diehl Aerospace: "Our company is participating in the 328H2-FC project with extensive research packages. In this way, we are impressively documenting our interest in this forward-looking propulsion technology and underlining the important role that the equipment industry plays in the development of such innovative systems."

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In cruise flight, the use of the hydrogen fuel cell energy system enables the aircraft to operate without emitting carbon dioxide, which means that a large part of the flight distance can be covered in a completely climate-neutral manner. For the energy-intensive take-off, a gas turbine will initially provide additional thrust as part of the testing in the hybrid-electric concept.

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The project as a whole thrives on the cooperation in a strong partner network of DLR, H2FLY, Deutsche Aircraft and Diehl Aviation (incl. Diehl Aerospace). Other project‘s partners are AKG Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Bauhaus Luftfahrt e.V., GE Aviation, HS Elektronik GmbH, Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH and Premium Aerotec GmbH.

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BMWK funding for the 328H2-FC project is provided within the framework of the aeronautics research programme (LuFo VI-2). The joint project leader is DLR. The project builds on the predecessor projects 328eHY-LAB and 328eHY-TECH (LuFo VI-1) led by Deutsche Aircraft.

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I am pleased to once again present you with some exciting updates about Deutsche Aircraft’s work and progress for the past few months.

Last December, we celebrated Deutsche Aircraft’s 1st year anniversary and the 30 years of D328 first flight online, and also attended and presented at the Hamburg Aviation Forum.

We are also happy to announce that we completed our first Customer Advisory Board, with a number of key airlines from around the world, and successfully gathered valuable feedback for the D328eco development.

Sustainability is always at the heart of the entire Deutsche Aircraft operation. We not only focus on developing an environmentally friendly aircraft, but we also dedicate the entire organization towards comprehensive sustainability goals. We are pleased to announce that Deutsche Aircraft obtained 3 EN ISO certificates, and also established a Sustainability Board, to facilitate implementation across all departments.

We continue to work with important partners in development, most recently we  highlighted our collaboration with the North Energy Cluster in Norway, aiming to develop solutions that will accelerate the availability of climate-neutral aviation technologies.

Last but not least, we are still growing! We welcome Patricia, Tim, Thomas and many other great talent to join Deutsche Aircraft. To accommodate this growth, we will be expanding into additional offices and facilities at Oberpfaffenhofen.

Enjoy the read!

Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft

Deutsche Aircraft Achievements and Progresses

On 7th December 2021, we celebrate the one-year anniversary of Deutsche Aircraft. Coincidently it was also the 30th anniversary of the first flight of our legacy – D328-100 Turboprop aircraft. On the same day, we were invited to be panellist in the Hamburg Aviation Forum where our CTO Martin Nussler was part of the panel.

We are also proud to announce that we obtained three certifications according to international standards: EN 9100:2018 (former AS 9100D), including the requirements of EN ISO 9001:2015, and EN ISO 14001:2015. They demonstrate Deutsche Aircraft’s commitments to continuously improving its quality performance while reducing the environmental footprint of its operations and services, as well as taking concrete action to combat climate change.

D328® In Service Fleet Updates

Our hangar was busy for the past quarter. Among our work, we are pleased to highlight some of the achievements of our team:

• We had Botswana Defense Force aircraft Do328-100 in for heavy maintenance (Phase 5), ADS-B upgrade and Installation of a modification for operation on unpaved Runways. Aircraft was released early December.
• We performed heavy maintenance on Do328-100 from AeroRescue, which included a complete Repainting & EASA Registration and delivered it to an special mission operator in mid January.
• We delivered to Private Wings’ repainted Do328-100 aircraft D-CAWA in cooperation with GA-ATS Oberpfaffenhofen.

D328ecoTM

The development of our D328eco platform keeps on progressing. We have announced several key suppliers, important strategic partnerships and we also completed the first Customer Advisory Board.

The key suppliers we have announced in the past few months are SupplyOn for Deutsche Aircraft’s digital supply chain management, Factory Design for the interior design, and DMD Solutions for support in certification.

We also teamed up with the North Energy Cluster (NEC/Energi I Nord) to achieve substantial short-term reductions of Northern Norway’s aviation climate footprint through low-carbon e-fuels. And in the mid-term, we aim to develop solutions to achieve zero climate impact.

Our Customer Advisory Board (CAB) was the first-ever online CAB. Due to current travel limitations and safety measures, we set up a virtual, interactive platform for our CAB members to engage meaningfully, including a pre-conference interactions, live sessions discussions with our senior management and Engineering teams, interactive 3D D328eco models. We collected valuable inputs from aircraft operators and leasing companies covering all 5 continents, to which will be taken into consideration as the program advances towards conclusion of PDR – Preliminary Design Review - phase.

Meet our Team

We are delighted to introduce you to more new talent in our team. This quarter, please meet Thomas Ahn, Chief Engineer, Patricia Ferrari, Head of Procurement and Tim Otte, Head of Flight Test.

Thomas Ahn

Thomas joined Deutsche Aircraft in January as the Chief Engineer for the D328eco program. He has had an extensive career in the aerospace industry with renowned companies such as Bombardier, Airbus deHavilland, Dornier and Grob Aircraft, where he held lead engineering positions in aircraft product development. The last 20 years have been mostly in Canada as the Chief Aircraft Integrator for Bombardier Aviation. In this role he was responsible for the aircraft configuration development of regional aircraft, commercial jets and business jets. Interesting to note though, his career started out 34 years ago in the Future Projects team of Dornier, defining the original concept of the Dornier 328!

Thomas holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Augsburg University of Applied Sciences and had worked for several years as an aircraft mechanic prior to pursuing his engineering interests.

Tim Otte

Tim brings more than 30 years of experience in various aerospace companies and in different leading positions, ranging from civil programs like the Dornier 328 and 728 to a number of military programs such as Eurofighter, Tornado and A400M. In all positions the technical domains covered were flight physics, simulation, ground & flight test and/or aircraft systems. Tim studied Aerospace Engineering and started his career at Dornier.

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Patricia Ferrari

Patricia joined Deutsche Aircraft as the Head of Procurement. She was the vice president of supply chain of the Embraer Company. Appointed to the position in March 2018, she led the complete supply chain management organization to support Embraer business units. She coordinated operational activities resulting in cost-cutting measures, improved supplier performance and guaranteeing compliance.

Patricia holds a bachelor’s degree in Production Engineer Materials from the University of São Carlos as well as a master’s in Production Engineer.

With our rapid ramp up of employees to support our growth we are already using 9 buildings in Oberpfaffenhofen. To streamline our internal efficiency we along with our growth have secured an additional 3200m2 of office space in a brand new building that will be completed in Q4 this year. With the expansion of our facilities footprint, we aim to provide our growing team great working environments.

We are still hiring! Visit our career page and follow us on Linkedin to find our open positions.

Deutsche Aircraft Aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals

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As part of its strategic focus on Sustainability, Deutsche Aircraft makes the globally recognized Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations its guiding principle for all business operations. To that end, a cross-departmental Sustainability Board was founded in December 2021. The board co-creates the company‘s Sustainability Strategy and steers its implementation across the company. Representatives from all departments meet bi-monthly and exchange on current developments in politics and society, collect and prioritize proposals of employees and coordinate corporate actions and communication. With the help of the Sustainability Board, Deutsche Aircraft does not only focus on developing and producing a sustainable aircraft, but also has a comprehensive approach to meet the selected UN Sustainable Development Goals with contributions from the entire organization.

Deutsche Aircraft in the News

This quarter, Deutsche Aircraft continued to increase its media coverage in key business and aviation media outlets. Here are some highlights of coverages of our past announcements. Enjoy the read!

Deutsche Aircraft collaborates with FactoryDesign to design the next-generation sustainable cabin interior with exceptional comfort for their D328ecoTM regional aircraft (Feb, 2022)

•   Deutsche Aircraft signs deal for D328eco aircraft interiors, Aerospace Manufacturing

•    Deutsche and Factorydesign collaborate on sustainable interiors, Aircraft Interiors International

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‍Pioneering German-Norwegian cooperation will make regional Norwegian aviation a world leader in the transition to climate-neutrality (March 2022)

•   Deutsche Aircraft’s 328eco Gets Boost from Norway, AIN

•   Deutsche Aircraft kooperiert mit norwegischer NEC, Flug Revue

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Deutsche Aircraft receives three certifications to confirm quality and environmental standards (March 2022)

•   Deutsche Aircraft Receives Three Certifications to Confirm Quality and Environmental Standards

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München 29. March 2022 – The Icelandic airline Eagle Air and the German aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft have announced a renewal of their support contract for maintenance repair and operations. Deutsche Aircraft will continue to provide maintenance for the Do 328-110 of Eagle Air. The companies have already had a similar agreement running since February 2020. The contract renewal will span another two years.

The Scandinavian multi role airline has been using a Do 328 turboprop since the summer of 2018. It is mainly used for passenger transport within the island. The manufacturer will conduct the maintenance procedures at the Deutsche Aircraft facilities at Oberpfaffenhofen airport near Munich.

“As we operate our Do 328 on a variety of missions within Iceland, we need a reliable maintenance service provider to guarantee operational readiness of the flagship of our fleet. Over the last two years Deutsche Aircraft has proven to be that partner. We are happy to extend the maintenance contract for a further two years,” says Björn S Eggertsson, Technical Manger Eagle Air.

Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft adds: “We have supported Eagle Air with the maintenance since their 50-year-anniversary as an airline in 2020. We are proud to keep working with a reliable and professional business partner. “

MUNICH, 16th March 2022 – Deutsche Aircraft GmbH announces that it has obtained three certifications according to international standards. These confirm the commitment of Deutsche Aircraft of adhering to the highest international quality and environmental standards to ensure constant and sustainable growth.

Recent audit results in accordance with EN 9100:2018 (former AS 9100D), including the requirements of EN ISO 9001:2015, enhances Deutsche Aircraft highest’s quality management standards and brings valuable benefits to the company.

Receiving the EN ISO 14001:2015 environmental standards certification for the first time confirms Deutsche Aircraft’s establishment and application to an Environmental Management System which covers design, production, maintenance and completion of the Dornier 328 Series Aircraft, including worldwide customer support and supply chain as well as management for operators. 

The EN ISO certificates are world’s highest and most recognized standard of quality and environmental management. They demonstrate Deutsche Aircraft’s commitments to continuously improving its quality performance while reducing the environmental footprint of its operations and services, as well as taking concrete action to combat climate change. 

Confirming company-wide state of the art management systems 

Along with its compliance to the current regulations for health protection and occupational safety, Deutsche Aircraft is committing towards stronger environmental goals and objectives. Deutsche Aircraft also takes one step ahead by placing a more rigorous attention upon its suppliers and partners’ selection and is aiming to develop more sustainability-driven processes with higher efficiency and cost savings. 

Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft, said: “We are very proud to have been awarded with these three certifications. It is a reward for the team, confirming the outstanding work we have put into our internal processes to meet global standards and better support the ongoing development of the D328eco™. Our mission is to use the D328eco to drive aviation's transition to more sustainable flights. This goes hand in hand with consequent health protection and occupational safety.”

Deutsche Aircraft fully commits to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

As a purpose-driven OEM, Deutsche Aircraft is committed to operating as a responsible business by aligning its strategy with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Those are part of a global effort to change the corporate strategy and to support customers' efforts into more environmentally focused strategies to help companies reduce their environmental impact. This includes all aspects of quality management and customer satisfaction, as well as detailed and rigorously enforced health, safety and environmental protocols throughout the organisation.

To meet these requirements and improve performance, Deutsche Aircraft regularly provides comprehensive internal training opportunities for all employees to ensure that all departments comply with the latest health, safety and environmental standards. More than a year ago, Deutsche Aircraft also established a dedicated "Sustainability Team" to support the efforts of aligning with these processes both internally and externally.

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Munich/Bodø, 14th of March 2022. The German aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft (DA) and the North Energy Cluster (NEC), based in Northern Norway have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stating their common goal to develop solutions that will accelerate the availability of climate-neutral aviation technologies. The cooperation of the two partners will achieve substantial short-term reductions of Northern Norway’s aviation climate footprint throughlow-carbon e-fuels. Furthermore, the partners agree to develop solutions to achieve zero climate impact in the mid-term.

Key Facts

• Norwegian energy cluster disposes of abundant, low-cost renewable energy and the necessary infrastructure to ramp up production of low-carbon e-fuels
• Deutsche Aircraft as a German turboprop aircraft manufacturer is on the forefront of developing a 100% e-fuel compatible aircraft
• The cooperation lays the ground for eliminating aviation’s climate impact, aviation being an essential infrastructure for Northern Norway

MartinNüßeler, Chief Technology Officer of DA:

“This partnership brings us a big stepcloser to climate-neutral flight.”

AndersTørud, Cluster Manager of NEC:

“We have the best possible ecosystem in NorthernNorway to make low carbon e-fuels a reality”

VolkerThum, Chief Executive Officer of the German Aerospace Industries Association(BDLI):

"Green flying is the future and it has already begun.”

Munich-based DA is developing a low-emission regional aircraft based on the Dornier DO328 platform well known to regional air travelers all over the world. The D328eco will achieve near carbon-neutral flight in the below 50 seats market with its state-of-the-art technologies and full compatibility with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Beyond the D328eco, DA is also studying alternative propulsion technologies based on hydrogen for future programs.

The North Energy Cluster/Energi i Nord is comprised of industrial players such as major wind and hydropower producers, technology suppliers, electrochemical companies as well as the aviation sector and local communities that are determined to take the lead in the energy transition in several sectors including aviation.

Northern Norway is a vast and secluded territory. Its network of 26 regional airports is critical infrastructure, more so than anywhere else in Europe. Coupled with Northern Norway’s excess of low-cost renewable energy vital for e-fuel production, it makes for the ideal testing ground for new concepts within climate-neutral aviation. The initiative intends to produce e-fuels using industrial CO2 point sources as a first step which will later be substituted by direct air capture powered by the abundant renewable energy to minimize lifecycle emissions.

By conducting test flights and studying ground infrastructure requirements for the production of e-fuels, the partnership will pave the way towards Northern Norway becoming a leader nationally and internally in the enormous transformation aviation is facing. The cluster will also collaborate with the Lofoten project “The green islands”, an ambitious roadmap to bring sustainable tourism to one of the most scenic and untouched regions of Norway. In his context, short-haul routes on the Lofoten archipelago will be among the first to be operated with alternative fuels.

Comments:

Anders Tørud, Cluster Manager of NEC:

“E-fuels and hydrogen produced from renewable energies remain the most promising scalable solutions to significantly reduce emissions in one of the most hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation. What is key to make it happen, is to bring down production costs through scale and we have the right ecosystem in Northern Norway to do so.”

Martin Nuesseler, Chief Technology Officer of DA:

“A significant factor for the environmental performance of the next generation of aircraft is how fuels are produced. Our ambition at Deutsche Aircraft is therefore to think aircraft operation in conjunction with fuel production to achieve an optimal result for the environment. The challenge for e-fuels is the energy-intensive production process which means that you need to go where you can find abundant renewable energy. Regional aviation contributes on a daily basis to the economic functioning of Northern Norway and provides enormous societal benefits. We want to show that you can achieve this without inflicting harm on our environment.

Combining the modern turboprop D328eco efficiency with a 100% SAF capability represents the best way to update the market with a green aircraft in the shortest time possible. “

Volker Thum, Chief Executive Officer of the German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI):

"Green flying is the future and it has already begun. This is also demonstrated by the cooperation between our member Deutsche Aircraft and Energi i Nord. The introduction of Sustainable Aviation Fuels and in the long-term hydrogen can contribute significantly to the realization of climate-neutral flight. The transformation of civil aviation towards climate neutrality, in which sustainable aviation fuels are indispensable, will be the focus of ILA Berlin. This leading trade show of our industry on sustainability, new technologies and innovation will take place from the 22nd until the 26th of June 2022."

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On this International Women's Day, we take time to recognize and celebrate the contribution of women around the world with a special thank you to those in our industry.

Statistically speaking, Aviation still is a male-dominated industry, despite that, Deutsche Aircraft is privileged to have extremely successful female leaders. So we've invited Regina Pouzolz, Head of Sustainability, Claudia Juricic, Head of Material & Processes and Patrícia Ferrari, Head of Procurement to answer some questions and share their experiences and suggestions to young female leaders.

We’ve prepared a few highlights of our conversation, and if you want to hear it in full, make sure to listen to our Podcast.

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As a female engineer, have you encountered any challenges during your work and studies?

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Regina:

I think that engineers, technicians, physicians, they're all so passionate about technology, but at least that's how I feel it that it's not so much a matter of if people are a man or a woman, or I don't know, whatever its passion for technology that drives the people. And that's in the focus. And so you always have a discussion that is really around technical topics. But I think there are few role models, that is a problem for me. So that's why I also like participating in this because I never had any women in front of me that I had in mind. In my family, there was no engineer. And even my mother would ask me why I would do such a harsh topic. So I think it's a good idea to have role models.

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And what about Patricia, do you do you have role models? Or when you choose to choose to join engineering or join this field?

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Patricia:

No, I hadn't as well. I had when I decided to join the STEM. Though, at that time, no role models. I believe that during my career, I started to look to some other colleagues and see them as role models when I was still in new in the carrer and I always look for good examples male or female, and I believe that ours helped it because being a woman, I'd have not faced anything during university I believe it's equal for for everybody. When I started working, also, I think was the same but once I started to grow in my career and going for a more leadership position. I can tell you that sometimes I felt that a little bit because our industry is still male dominant. And sometimes being the only woman in leadership meetings. It's sometimes it's more about us, you know, you feel sometimes that everybody's judging you. I think we ask too much from ourselves from us then from the outside. So I think that we face a little bit that we are too demanding to ourselves, to change ourselves, we wanted to be very competent, and we need to we want to show that we don't want anybody to think anything else about us. So I think we are I felt that a little bit until I will have my, my space. No, really, my grounds done.

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Claudia:

I totally agree, Patricia, totally agree. I mean, to be honest, I really don't remember that I have faced problems or challenges because I'm a woman, I mean, never. But on the other hand, I had a lot of situations where I also was alone in these meetings only guys, or even older, let's say maybe older men from the, let's say, old grown up, period. And then you need a little bit to adjust your behaviour. And, but this at the end it was also fine. So I also in the school or university, there was never, let's say, challenge for me only because I'm a woman.

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So, Claudia, you mentioned that you might have to change the behaviour a bit to adopt? Can you give an example like what kind of change?

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Claudia:

I’ll give you an example. So when I come into the meeting room, then I take my laptop and, but use a lot of space and so on to show how important I am. And this is this? Yeah. Because usually, we women, we are, very sometimes talk very silently and sit in here. And this is what you have to show to the guy say, yeah, there was one this that was really funny, there was one moment, there was also another lady walks in a meeting. And we both were sitting already prepared for the meeting. And then the guys were still standing around and chatting here and chatting that and then there was one guy, he wanted to let the other guys know that he is, you know, had a good relationship with the big boss and so on. And then, after a while, we got we took a look on the time and also and then this lady, she smashed her hand on the table and said, Are we ready now to start the meeting? Yeah. And so this, of course, I think you also you have a lot of stories in there. This is what I mean was you have to adapt your behaviour. Also that you also understand the guys that this is needed for them. Yeah, they must, you know, it's this levelling, and how about positions and influence and, and strains and so on, they have to, I think they need to exchange this much more than we, I would say.

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Now that you are the role models, do you have some tips for young female leaders?

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Regina

I would like to encourage young women not only to learn how to survive in the male world but also to stick with female values, which are a complement to the male surrounding but of course, we have to be realistic. And if you want to survive, you need to kind of navigate through the existing rules.

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Patricia:

Yeah, I think we I also would encourage the young ladies to really be themselves. I think we can find our ways and keeping the value of being female in a male universe and really get our voice out there. I believe in that. I think that we really can have our space there. And also my advice is that I feel I have been a leader of groups, big groups of different candidates. And I always feel that the men are much more demanding in terms of asking for what they want in terms of career, you know, they ask that want to grow, they ask about the salaries, they complain. And my experience as a leader of girls, they never do that. And I have never done myself doing my career, you know? And that's the reason I believe that when you look for all these statistics, women in leadership, want less than men because we claim less for what we believe it's fair for us. So this is one advice that I will also give to the young lady, don't be shy to ask why do you believe your worth for.

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Lin:

So if I could come to a quick sum up to your suggestion to young woman leaders is that don't be afraid to ask, don't be afraid to claim that you deserve to be more courageous to negotiate for your career. And try to take advantage of the part that will not take advantage sounds like a loaded phrase, but actually tried to establish a woman's way of working and to get the others to acknowledge that woman's way of working is a very complimentary way of working, it's not the dominant, dominating way, but it's another way and it's a great way. And also tried to be assertive in terms of voice and in terms of physical space, when entering a meeting, that's, that's my suggestion from Claudia

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Patricia:

We don't need to dress like a man, we don't need to start wearing makeup. You don't need to become like a man to really to have our space. You still can be very female. And in sometimes it's I have had circumstances where I was very well dressed because we're so important event and you feel that somebody was looking, you need to deal with that as well. But you will. Once you have consistence and you have always a good thing to deliver, you will be respected.

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Is there a trait of your leadership style that you are proud of and would like to share, regardless of gender?

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Regina:

I really try to be integrated in my team. And I firmly believe in the best outcome, is if everybody has had the possibility to contribute and to say something. So if the team decides it will always be the best result. And sometimes that takes more time. And sometimes you don't have the time. So as a leader, you have to stop it and then make a decision that that happens. But in general, I really tried to make everybody participate.

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Claudia:

I mean, I feel so as a leader, as a head of, the most important thing is I think I really managed to do this so, that I'm an enabler for the team you know, not only the boss you know and you know the most important person and so now I'm an enabler I have to I support I have to support the team and that way that they have the freedom to do the job the tasks and the deliveries we really have to perform. And also what I try to let my team know is that is of course I'm I have the lead but that doesn't mean that I know everything the best so I said when they when I always liked this discussion and when they think that they know better than they just let me know and then we have a discussion I can learn we can we know this a mutual learning that's also the reason why I like to have young people in the team now. So coming as a fresh idea in Yeah, this is it's for me extremely important that everybody can say or bring in ideas. And this is something really, I think in the aerospace industry very very important that we have this that we want to help each other and not to hide your knowledge or something so that you have fun and joy to really to share your knowledge and experience. And in the end it's about trust I don't control my team at that sense. Now I don't take a local, when did he came this morning and when did he leave or something like that or whatever

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Patricia:

Claudia said the word that I would say that is “trust”. So I will believe that this is really important from both sides or I need to trust the team. And they need to trust me and know that I will be there to support them on every occasion. And another important characteristic of my leadership style is simplicity. I always try to make the lives of my team easier. So let's simplify let's you know not to ask for hundreds of over-complicated controls or PowerPoint presentations. So I really like the team to feel that I'm trying to make their day by day work easier and lighter, that if they need to share an issue with me that my door is open and they don't need to bring a lot of material to discuss it to come and talk you know, and we will exchange and suggest solutions and try to figure out the best way forward. So I believe it is being very important. Normally in procurement or world we are always overloaded with a lot of things to do. And so I always try to simplify and to be quick on the actions that sometimes prevent them to proceed, for example, there's sometimes a lot of approvals that need to take place. So try always to be fast, because I know that this sometimes it's very important on and on the daily activities so summarising, I would say to us in simplest.

That's all for this amazing interview. If you would like to see and learn more about Deutsche Aircraft and our team, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and stay alert for news coming soon on www.deutscheaircraft.com.

We are excited to announce that the RAMS engineering team have engaged with Deutsche Aircraft to participate in the certification effort for the Dornier D328eco™ aircraft, a game-changing platform that will align the future of aviation towards a zero-emission flight objective.

The primary focus of the D328eco program is enhancing the Dornier 328 platform and delivering a future proved regional aircraft. The technical mission for the aircraft is based on a clear commitment for more sustainable aviation with significant positive impacts on short-range regional transportation versus today’s standard technologies. The new D328eco aircraft is a derivative of the proven Dornier 328 series aircraft, which is a solid starting point for the certification basis. The technological challenge is in the new powerplant combination and the latest generation avionic suite designed to enhance the in-service Dornier 328 into a more sustainable regional and multi-mission aircraft equipped to meet the future challenges of the market.

DMD Solutions and Deutsche Aircraft have agreed on a 4-year collaboration plan aligned with a soundly designed certification strategy. The DMD Solutions RAMS team will support the Type Certificate approval of the D328eco by providing engineering expertise in safety, reliability, and maintainability to the Deutsche Aircraft engineering team in the framework of CS-25 regulatory requirements. The RAMS team works in an agile methodology framework to maximise customer satisfaction and to meet today's challenges of remote efficient working. The collaboration is led by Silvia Bianchi, Deutsche Aircraft's Director Aircraft Architecture and the team engages on a daily basis with the design and CVE engineering teams. For the production of RAMS analyses, both teams turn to the Robin RAMS software suite which allows a secure workflow environment and a fluid project collaboration platform.

It is with great pleasure that DMD Solutions starts this collaboration on the ambitious D328eco project and the whole team is looking forward to keeping up with the good work!

• Set for entry into service in 2025/2026, the new D328eco turboprop regional aircraft will feature numerous modernized features
• Newly designed state of the art flight deck
• Entirely new cabin linings and monuments
• Bespoke seat design to maximize passenger comfort and space
• Setting new hygiene standards

Munich – 23rd February 2022 – The German aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft has announced a partnership with the London-based design agency Factorydesign. Deutsche Aircraft is currently working on remodeling the Dornier 328 short haul aircraft into a more environmentally-friendly concept, called D328eco.

The focus on sustainability also applies to the cabin interior. Factorydesign are tasked with creating an all-new cabin interior including walls, ceilings, overhead compartments, bulkheads and partition, a new and engaging welcome on boarding, as well as a new galley, lavatory and bespoke seating.

The goal is to redefine the cabin through design features, with careful attention to sustainable materials and processes, plus thoughtful consideration given to the passenger experience, crew requirements and operation.

“It is clear that the future success of aviation at all levels will be determined by the airframers thoughtful attention to sustainability, passenger experience and providing airlines with options to improve their flexibility.  As such, we are naturally delighted to be working for Deutsche Aircraft on the new cabin interiors for their D328eco aircraft.” says Peter Tennent, Commercial Director, Factorydesign.

Ecological, comfortable and safe

Redesigning seats, stowage compartments, structural components and lighting can save weight and thus make the aircraft more fuel efficient. Selecting certified materials for components that are either recycled or are recyclable, help to reduce waste. By looking into alternative manufacturing techniques, resources may be used more efficiently.

Sustainability does not end with weight-saving and alternative materials. Passenger comfort is also key in providing a sustainable tool for airlines. “We are looking at ways to enhance the customer experience. Passengers should expect that they are being looked after, feel safe and have an experience that they want to happily come back to and not just tolerate,” explains Adrian Berry, Creative Director at Factorydesign.

What applies to the passengers also applies to the crew. Key aspects of providing them with a suitable workspace are technological enhancements, ergonomics of space and simplicity of the design.

Safety has always been an important consideration in air travel. The covid-pandemic has put an even bigger emphasis on hygiene in the cabin. Cleaning and cleanability will also be emphasized. Other state of the art cleaning solutions, anti-microbial surfaces and finishes, as well as easy and quickly changeable refreshment items could be incorporated.

Creating a convincing “business card”

Houda El Mektoumi, Head of Cabin & Cargo at Deutsche Aircraft shares: “The cabin design is the business card of an aircraft and any airline. Together with Factorydesign, our team of Cabin Interior Engineers will ensure that the high comfort and design level of long-haul jets will continue in regional aircraft. Passengers will enjoy a seamless flight experience in the D328eco and be delighted by the unique, sustainable cabin design. We are certain that together with Factorydesign we can open a new chapter in short haul air travel.”

About Factorydesign

Factorydesign is a multi-award winning, creative design agency with studios and workshops in West London, delivering strategic design solutions for cabin interiors and products for the aviation sector.  Creating unique passenger experiences through the design of cabin layouts, interiors and products including seats for all classes, cabin destinations and features, monuments, lavatories and galleys, as well interpreting and integrating brands through materials, colour, trim and finish for regional and commercial aircraft.

MUNICH, February 9th 2022 – Deutsche Aircraft GmbH today announced its partnership with SupplyOn, a leading company for supply chain management, to develop a state of the art digital management system for its supply chain, aligned with its 100% paperless, full digitalisation objective.

In order to successfully implement the strategic goal of a resilient digital supply chain in the shortest possible time, Deutsche Aircraft chose the established SupplyOn platform to support the major ramp up expected to produce the D328eco™ aircraft, a game-changing platform that prepares the future of aviation today and paves the way towards a zero-emission flight objective.  

This ambitious mission can only be achieved if highly efficient production processes are established quickly. The digitalisation of the supply chain is crucial in this context. It will comprise a global network of around 100 suppliers. SupplyOn will help Deutsche Aircraft centralize this process digitally and create a structured communication with its suppliers using the established SupplyOn platform. SupplyOn not only offers mature, industry-specific solutions and processes, but also access to a global network of over 100,000 companies, a large proportion of which are dedicated suppliers to the aerospace industry. These are the best prerequisites for Deutsche Aircraft to electronically map its supply chain end-to-end.

This effort is led by Deutsche Aircraft´s Director of Supply Chain, Maximilian Fahr, who said: “This collaboration is part of Deutsche Aircraft’s broader strategy towards a full digitalization of our supply chain. We have chosen to work with SupplyOn, because we know that this partnership will guarantee us to meet effectively our ambitious objectives”.

Initially, the focus is on digitising the tender phase in order to select competitive, sustainable and innovative bidders. The comprehensive digitization starts with the integration of around 30 strategically most important suppliers, who are also involved in the development of the prototype. These deliver the top 20 main components (MCA). At later stage, the Leipzig/Halle FAL will be included up until the series phase, which is planned for 2025, and the group of suppliers will be expanded to around 90. The aim of the rollout is fully digitized final assembly - 100 percent "paperless".

“We are pleased to be working with Deutsche Aircraft on this exciting project”, commented Markus Quicken, CEO, SupplyOn AG. “This is an essential step towards Deutsche Aircraft’s vision of securing the highest quality suppliers in the long term in order to achieve excellence, not only in product development, but also in the overall’s company processes. Building on SupplyOn´s extensive expertise, we are convinced that our team will be of a great support in this matter.”

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Get access to Martin Nüsseler's (CTO Deutsche Aircraft) presentation during the ERA Board meeting on Jan 27th 2022 on Providing an Early Solution towards Sustainable Aviation by clicking the link below:

As part of its continuing global support for the Dornier 328 fleet, Deutsche Aircraft GmbH is pleased to announce that an EASA certified Dornier 328 Jet Full Flight Simulator (FFS) Level D is now operational in Germany and will be available for training from the 1st of December 2021 onwards. The simulator received its certification from the German Federal Aviation Office (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt – LBA) on November 25th 2021. 

The simulator will be operated by Simulator Training Solution GmbH (STS). Deutsche Aircraft GmbH is cooperating with STS GmbH, the operator of the Do328 Prop simulator and now offers Do 328Jet training, on a fixed rate per hour basis. These slots can be directly booked through a dedicated page on the Deutsche Aircraft website.

“Given the excellent expertise of Deutsche Aircraft in supporting the Dornier 328 fleet over many years, we are proud to partner with them on this project, supporting the training of the next generation of pilots on the Dornier 328.” Jan Hünerfeld, CEO of STS.

Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft stated: “It is essential to keep our operators up to date with the latest safety requirements and training, and ensure their flight training even during the current COVID-19 situation regardless of their flying activity. Establishing the simulator in Germany, is a major step towards simplifying our activities and extending our service offering to our Dornier 328 operators.”

The simulator facility is conventionally located in Velbert/Essen, close to Düsseldorf as well as Cologne-Bonn airports.

On December 6th 1991, the Dornier 328 took off for the very first time. Today marks the 30th anniversary of this milestone that we wanted to celebrate here at Deutsche Aircraft with our colleagues, partners as well as past & current customers of this amazing aircraft !

We really hope you will enjoy the footages of this maiden flight..

MUNICH, 27 October 2021 – Deutsche Aircraft GmbH today announced achievement of a new milestone toward construction of its final assembly line for the D328eco at Leipzig/Halle Airport.

Deutsche Aircraft and Leipzig/Halle Airport reached a newmilestone in the project agreement for the establishment of a newstate-of-the-art FAL for the D328eco located on the premises of the airport.The construction application for the FAL has been delivered to Saxony building authorities and approval is expected in December and the ground-breaking event is planned for the second half of 2022.

With construction of the FAL in Leipzig, Deutsche Aircraft will be an active participant in the revitalization of the region’s economy by creating around 300 new jobs and helping develop Saxony’s aerospace industry capabilities. Vital to achieving this objective is support from the development programme, “Improvement of the Regional Economic Structure”, also called GRW,of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs. The GRW has been the central instrument of regional economic policy in Germany since 1969.

In parallel, to meet the objective of building a carbon-neutral production line for the D328eco, Deutsche Aircraft is collaborating with planning agency Drees & Sommer, an international consulting company working in the German building and real estate sector. Together,the two companies are working to create future building proofs that integrate economic efficiency and minimize the FAL’s environmental impact.

Deutsche Aircraft Vice President Operations and Programmes, Nico Neumann said, “Establishing a state-of-the-art final assembly line for theD328eco in Germany is key to the development of our programme. We believe in reducing our environmental impact at every step in the aircraft design process, and this includes rethinking our production processes and building the right facility. The collaboration with Leipzig/Halle Airport will allow us to build on an ideal location in the centre of Germany and utilize the airport’s extensive aerospace experience to create a state-of-the-art facility. Furthermore, we are proud to contribute to boosting the region’s economy”.

Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Dulig declared: "Since Germany´s reunification, the State of Saxony has invested around 1.5 billion euros in the expansion of Leipzig/Halle Airport, thus creating ideal conditions for further settlements. Companies can draw on a high level of aerospace expertise in Saxony. Around 160 companies and research institutions with more than 7,000 employees are active in Saxony's aerospace sector. The establishment of the aircraft production line in Leipzig/Halle will radiate beyond Saxony and give a boost to the German aviation industry, which was particularly affected by the Corona pandemic."

Thomas Horn, Managing Director of Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen GmbH, said: "The establishment of the aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft in Leipzig and the associated investment in the constructionof a final assembly line for the production of the D328eco aircraft demonstrate the confidence in Saxony as a business location. For the first time since the end of aircraft manufacturing in the GDR, such a production facility is again being built in the east of Germany. With the existing competencies and the many years of experience of the Saxon aerospace players in aircraft construction, we see numerous points of contact. We are pleased that the project is moving forward."

Götz Ahmelmann, CEO Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, said:"Central German Airports will be the birthplace of a state-of-the-art aircraft. This is something special for us emotionally. We could hardly get a more suitable industry on the site to further develop our location in terms of quality. The D328eco is a passenger aircraft that is likely to be the future in its class as a fast and environmentally friendly regional aircraft. Thus, the site once again sends an important signal: work and the environment go hand in hand."

I am pleased to once again present you with exciting updates about Deutsche Aircraft's work and progresses for this quarter.

The transition from 328 Support Services GmbH to Deutsche Aircraft GmbH is officially complete. We are now all working under the same brand towards a common goal: more climate friendly regional aviation.

Customer satisfaction is at the heart of our company philosophy when it comes to our work on the D328® aircraft fleet. For the past quarter, we are pleased to have had a busy hangar. Our maintenance team demonstrated high quality work with a customer-oriented mindset. Every maintenance event was completed on time and to full customers´ full satisfaction.

I am pleased to once again present you with exciting updates about Deutsche Aircraft's work and progresses for this quarter.

The transition from 328 Support Services GmbH to Deutsche Aircraft GmbH is officially complete. We are now all working under the same brand towards a common goal: more climate friendly regional aviation.

Customer satisfaction is at the heart of our company philosophy when it comes to our work on the D328® aircraft fleet. For the past quarter, we are pleased to have had a busy hangar. Our maintenance team demonstrated high quality work with a customer-oriented mindset. Every maintenance event was completed on time and to full customers´ full satisfaction.

Enjoy the read!

Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft

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Deutsche Aircraft Achievements and Progresses

On 8th October 2021, the transition from 328SSG to Deutsche Aircraft was official with the change of name recognised by the German Register of Commerce.

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D328®

Our hangar was busy for the past quarter. Among our work, we are pleased to highlight some of the achievements of our team: the completion of maintenance work on four aircraft for three different customers: Luxaviation, Private Wings and Eagle Air.

The Luxaviation aircraft came in for line maintenance. The team completed an A1 and A2 check and associated defect rectification.

From May to July, the team carried out two phase 6 inspections on two Private Wings aircraft. A Phase 6 inspection is one of the largest inspections of the D328 aircraft. One aircraft was also repainted in the new livery of Private Wings.

One Eagle Air aircraft also came in for line maintenance. The team performed engine inspections, scheduled maintenance tasks, and released to service.

After delivery of the aircraft, we received a formal recognition from Eagle Air for the work performed. “We were very happy with this maintenance visit and with all the Deutsche Aircraft people we worked with” wrote Björn S. Eggertson, Technical Manager at Eagle Air.

Moreover, the team completed Wiring-Loom production for one of our customer’s aircraft along with a ship set for HIRF testing.

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D328eco™

The development of our D328eco platform is progressing as scheduled, with the announcement of the HEGGEMANN AG as key supplier for the wing industrialisation and production, HEGGEMANN AG.

HEGGEMANN has over 55 years' experience, mastering high-volume, industrialized production. The aerodynamically optimized wing design of the D328ecoTM will be built via state-of-the-art automatized manufacturing process flow. Hereby, progressive quality assurance and digitized end-to-end processes in terms of “Industry 4.0” will be implemented. The manufactured wing and its sub-components will be fully sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) compatible, with new sealants, surface protection measures and materials that fits with all mainstream SAFs.

HEGGEMANN AG is a strong partner in the development of the D328eco and will also supply the landing gear for the aircraft.

The on-boarding of other key suppliers and partners is ongoing and more news will be announced soon.

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Meet our Team

We are delighted to introduce you to more talents on our team. This quarter, meet Dr. Stefan Brunner, our Head of Airframe and Jean Damien Mazeau, our Head of Propulsion.

Dr. Stefan Brunner joined Deutsche Aircraft as Head of Airframe. He is responsible for the design of the airframe´s primary structure. He also handles structural analysis along with materials and processes for the complete aircraft.

Stefan built a long career in aerospace, working for various key players such as MT Aerospace AG, Premium Aerotec GmbH and Airbus Group.

During his 17 years within Airbus, he was heavily involved in a wide variety of major engineering programmes for both commercial aviation and defence and space programmes.

Jean Damien Mazeau joined Deutsche Aircraft in November 2020 as Head of Propulsion.

He is in charge of the development work for the propulsion systems for the D328eco’s propulsion systems.

Jean Damien worked for over 18 years within Airbus, starting in Airbus Helicopter as Thermal Engineer before integrating the Chief Engineering Team in France and Germany. He then moved to Airbus Commercial to work as Power Plant Chief Engineer in charge of A320. Afterwards, he came onboard Airbus Commercial customer support organization in the engineering department to manage the entry into service of the A320neo. Finally, he moved to Singapore for Airbus customer support programme of the A320 to be the main technical focal point for the Asian Pacific market where he stayed for two and a half year.

He holds an Engineering degree in Thermal and Energetics from the University of Poitiers in France.

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Deutsche Aircraft - Your Place to Lift Off

As part of its long-term growth strategy, Deutsche Aircraft launched a vocational training programme in partnership with AERO-Bildung, the aviation training centre of Bavaria, to train aircraft mechanics.

The first cohort will enrol four students and is expected to start in September 2022. During a 42-month timeframe, trainees will learn the ins and outs of the business of aircraft mechanics at the AERO-Bildung facilities and will test their newly acquired knowledge on state-of-the-art aircraft at Deutsche Aircraft near Munich.

Deutsche Aircraft is looking forward to welcome them and to enrich its team with a youthful spirit!

Tune in to our career website here to learn more about this opportunity.

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Deutsche Aircraft at Key Aerospace Events

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2021 RAA Leaders Conference

On 27 and 28 September 2021, Deutsche Aircraft “virtually” attended the 2021 RAA Leaders Conference, a conference of the Regional Airline Association, a business association representing 18 North American regional airlines and 280 associate, non-airline members, including manufacturers of products and services supporting the regional airline industry.

In a mix of presentation and panel discussions, the first day of debates evolved around COVID-19 and its impact on the aviation industry. The conclusion was that while we are on the way to recovery, we are still very far from getting there. Experts expect the U.S. to be one of the fastest – if not the fastest – regions to recover post-COVID due to the large domestic market. They also consider that business travel will be slower to recover, even if in-person meeting with customers is still seen a key factor to seal the deal.

Population decentralisation post pandemic is expected to be a major driver of demand for regional aviation, potentially resulting in a shift to smaller planes. Thus, discussions in the second day gauged trends to revert back towards the 50ish-seater spectrum, with a closer look on upcoming smaller aircraft and finished with an outlook on green initiatives in aviation.

The Air Current, a data-driven aviation trade media, reporting on the business, technology and strategy of flying, presented a comprehensive review of small sustainable regional aircraft currently in development. Deutsche Aircraft’s D328eco was featured in this review as the upcoming contender to watch.

Panel discussion around environmentally friendly aircraft brought up a lot of skepticism due to the commercial (and sustainable) viability of electric powered aircraft. Such aircraft are deemed too heavy and concerns were raised around battery disposal.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is seen as the short-medium term alternative towards greener aviation.

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15th Day of the German Aerospace

On 29th September 2021, the 15th Day of German Aerospace Regions took place in Aachen, Germany.

The event brought together the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Regional Forum of the German Aerospace Industries Association and the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) alongside with the AeroSpace NRW network and major aerospace companies.

Our partner HEGGEMANN AG had a stand where Deutsche Aircraft displayed a model of the D328eco. We had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. Thomas Jarzombek, Commissioner for the Digital Industry and Start-ups and Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy, and Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, onto the stand and to explain the unique capabilities of the D328eco.

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Deutsche Aircraft in the News

This quarter, media interest in Deutsche Aircraft continued to grow, with news coverage across key business and aviation media outlets. Press releases helped pique interest, with announcements regarding the launch of our vocational training programme for aircraft mechanics, D328eco programme development and the official name change from 328SSG GmbH to Deutsche Aircraft GmbH.

Deutsche Aircraft was also featured in respected business publications presenting the D328eco as the future of flight.

Finally, thanks to a digital campaign and a revamped website, Deutsche Aircraft strengthened its online presence.

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Deutsche Aircraft and AERO-Bildung sign partnership to start vocational training for Aircraft Mechanics (August 23, 2021)

• ‍Deutsche Aircraft and AERO-Bildung Partner to Offer Vocational Training for Aircraft Mechanics, Aviation Pros
• ‍D328eco maker steps up vocational training, Business Air News

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Deutsche Aircraft Selects HEGGEMANN AG for D328ecoTM Wing Industrialization and Production (September 2, 2021)

• Deutsche Aircraft reinforces Heggemann ties with D328eco wing pact, Flight Global
• Deutsche Aircraft Selects Heggemann AG for D328ecoTM Wing Production, AviationPros

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328 Support Services GmbH officially becomes Deutsche Aircraft GmbH (October 8, 2021)

• 328 Support Services GmbH officially becomes Deutsche Aircraft GmbH, World Airline News
• 328 Support Services GmbH officially becomes Deutsche Aircraft GmbH, Aviationpros

MÜNCHEN, den 27. September 2021 – Heute wird die 328 Support Services GmbH (328SSG), Inhaber der Musterzulassung für die D328®, offiziell zu Deutsche Aircraft GmbH (Deutsche Aircraft). Die Umfirmierung folgt auf die Neuausrichtung des Unternehmens als Flugzeughersteller (OEM).

Gestützt auf die jahrzehntelange Erfahrung der 328SSG als Halter der Musterzulassung für die D328®-Familie, arbeitet die Deutsche Aircraft an der Entwicklung der D328ecoTM - einem modernen, 40-sitzigen Turboprop-Flugzeug, das in der Lage ist sehr große Höhe und Fluggeschwindigkeit zu erreichen. Die D328ecoTM ist SAF-kompatibel und verfügt über ein neues integriertes CompanionTM-Flugdeck (basierend auf der Garmin 5000-Avionik Suite). Die Inbetriebnahme ist für Ende 2025 geplant.

Die Deutsche Aircraft mit Sitz in Oberpfaffenhofen bei München wird wie bisher die Wartung und den technischen Support für die weltweit im Einsatz befindliche D328®-Flotte übernehmen. Gleichzeitig werden die Teams in den Bereichen Engineering, Operations, Programme und Supply Chain weiter ausgebaut, um die Entwicklung des D328ecoTM-Programms voranzutreiben. Die ersten Prototypen der D328ecoTM werden in Oberpfaffenhofen gebaut und die ersten Flugtests sind für das Jahr 2024 geplant.

In Leipzig errichtet die Deutsche Aircraft eine neue, hochmoderne Endmontagelinie (FAL), die Ende 2024 in Betrieb gehen wird. Die Wiederaufnahme der Produktion in Deutschland auf Basis einer bewährten und international anerkannten Plattform, wird es Deutsche Aircraft erleichtern, schnell auf die wachsende Nachfrage nach einem Flugzeug dieser Größe zu reagieren.

"Es ist eine sehr spannende Zeit in der Luftfahrt und bei Deutsche Aircraft. Wir haben einen neuen Flugzeughersteller, neue Anlagen und ein wachsendes Team", sagte Dave Jackson, Managing Director von Deutsche Aircraft. "Um auf dieser Reise erfolgreich zu sein, war eine starke Marke notwendig, die unsere Ambitionen verkörpert und uns noch enger zusammenwachsen lässt. Die Marke Deutsche Aircraft steht für das hohe Ansehen der deutschen Luftfahrttechnik, unser Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitsbewusstsein und unsere Leidenschaft für Flugzeuge. Unser Symbol, der Kolibri, steht für unsere Werte und Visionen: den Schutz der Umwelt, Anpassungsfähigkeit und perfekt umgesetzte Flugeigenschaften."

Unser Unternehmen wächst ständig. Sind Sie an einer Mitarbeit interessiert? Auf unserer Website finden Sie eine Reihe an offenen Positionen: https://www.deutscheaircraft.com/careers.

– Ende –

Für Medienanfragen wenden Sie sich bitte an: pressoffice@DeutscheAircraft.com 

Anmerkung für die Redaktion

Über Deutsche Aircraft 

Gegründet auf dem Vermächtnis von Dornier und dem hohen Ansehen Deutschlands in den Bereichen des Ingenieurwesens, Qualität und Innovation, ist die Deutsche Aircraft der neue deutsche Flugzeugoriginalhersteller (OEM). Als Inhaber der Dornier 328-Musterzulassung (D328®), wird die Deutsche Aircraft die Weiterentwickung der D328® Plattform vorantreiben, um mit zukunftsweisenden Technologien und Verfahren ein leistungsfähigeres, wirtschaftlicheres und umweltfreundlicheres Flugzeug zu produzieren. Deutsche Aircraft wird somit die Zukunft der Luftfahrt in Richtung klimaneutrales Fliegen entscheidend prägen. In Zusammenarbeit mit der deutschen Regierung ist die Deutsche Aircraft wegweisend in einer neuen Ära der sauberen, sicheren und effizienten Luftfahrt.

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MUNICH, 27th September 2021 – Today, 328 Support Services GmbH (328SSG) – Type Certificate holder for the D328®aircraft – officially becomes Deutsche Aircraft GmbH (Deutsche Aircraft). The new company name follows the reestablishment of the company as an Aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

Following a decades-long track record of success as 328SSG, Deutsche Aircraft is poised to support the future of aviation with development of the D328eco™ aircraft, a fast, modern, high-flying, 40-seat turboprop that is SAF compatible and features a new integrated Companion™ flight deck (based on Garmin 5000 avionics suite). The D328eco is expected to enter into service by end of 2025.

Headquartered in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, Deutsche Aircraft will continue to provide maintenance and technical support to the global D328 fleet in service. Deutsche Aircraft also has plans to grow its engineering, operations, programs and supply chain teams to support the D328eco program development. The first prototypes of the D328eco will be built in Oberpfaffenhofen with the flight-testing campaign scheduled to start in 2024.

The new and state-of-the-art Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Leipzig is on target to be operational by the end of 2024. Restarting production in Germany allows the company to capitalize on the growing and immediate demand for aircraft of this size with a proven and internationally recognized platform.

“It is a very exciting time in aviation and at Deutsche Aircraft. We have a new aircraft OEM, new facilities and a growing team,” said Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft. “To embark on this journey, we needed a strong brand that embodies our ambitions and brings us closer together. Deutsche Aircraft’s brand refers to our German aviation-engineering heritage, our environmental and sustainability consciousness, and our passion for aircraft. Our symbol, the Hummingbird, represents our values and vision. It is sustainable, adaptable and perfectly engineered.”

Our organization is constantly growing. Interested in joining us? We have a number of open vacancies on our website at https://www.deutscheaircraft.com/careers. 

This partnership is a key milestone in the development of the D328eco programme

Deutsche Aircraft, the new purpose-driven German aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), announced today the selection of HEGGEMANN AG for the D328eco^TM wing industrialization and production. This agreement covers the manufacturing of the D328eco^TM wing box and engine support.

The aerodynamically optimized wing design of the D328eco^TM will be manufactured in a state-of-the-art automatized manufacturing process flow. Hereby, progressive quality assurance and digitalized end-to-end processes in terms of “Industry 4.0” will be implemented.

The manufactured wing and its sub-components will be fully sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) compatible, with new sealants, surface protection measures and materials that fits with all mainstream sustainable aviation fuels.

HEGGEMANN has over 55 years industrial experience, mastering high-volume, industrialized production, which will support the growth of the aviation sector. The company has fully implemented the APQP principle, a digital end-to-end process and product lifecycle tracking system. These attributes are mandatory for Deutsche Aircraft’s deployment of Industry 4.0 manufacturing principles. Aside of digitalization, HEGGEMANN also offers REACH roadmap that aligns with Deutsche Aircraft’s efforts to minimize environmental impact.

“Combining the advantage of Dornier wing structure, forward-looking SAF compatibility and HEGGEMANN’s production expertise, this partnership will create great synergy for the D328eco^TM programme”, said Nico Neumann, Vice President of Operation and Programme at Deutsche Aircraft GmbH. “We found HEGGEMANN to be the perfect partner for the D328eco^TM wing serial production. Our vision and mission align when it comes to sustainable production roadmap. Furthermore, we are both proud of our German heritage of unmet engineering excellence and quality”.

“We are very pleased to be an essential part of the development of the D328eco^TM programme. Realizing the wing in addition to the landing gear gives us the unique chance to further strengthen our partnership with Deutsche Aircraft. We will use our engineering competence and innovation strength to implement state-of-the-art digital manufacturing strategies and be an efficient manufacturing partner for Deutsche Aircraft," said Dr. Christian Howe, CEO of HEGGEMANN AG.

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Deutsche Aircraft, the new purpose-driven German aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and AERO-Bildung, the aviation training centre of Bavaria, have signed a cooperation agreement to jointly train future aviation mechanics. Both companies are distinguished by their long experience within the aviation industry. 

This is the first time that Deutsche Aircraft is offering vocational training. It is part of an integrated recruitment strategy that supports the growth and ambition of the company. The first cohort will enrol four students and is expected to start in September 2022.

Duringa 42-month timeframe, trainees will learn the basics of the work as aircraft mechanics at the AERO-Bildung facilities and will test their newly acquired knowledge on state-of-the-art aircraft at Deutsche Aircraft nearby Munich.

Upon graduation, outstanding trainees will have the opportunity to start their career within Deutsche Aircraft, either at Oberpfaffenhofen or at the Final Assembly Line in Leipzig.

“The start of this vocational training programme is part of a long-term growth strategy for Deutsche Aircraft. It also supports our regional strategy as it will help strengthen the connection between our two German sites in berpfaffenhofen and Leipzig. During this programme, students will learn the ins and outs of the business of aircraft mechanics and will test their newly acquired knowledge on state-of-the-art aircraft. We are looking forward to welcome them and to enrich our team with a youthful spirit” said Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft.

“We are excited to contribute to training the next generation of aircraft mechanics with the right skills to make our vision, climate neutral flying, a reality. Vocational training opens the door to an exciting career that starts straight after school. Within this programme, trainees learn everything there is to know about aircraft mechanics, from assembly to maintenance of an aircraft. Moreover, we will offer the opportunity to the top graduates to develop and progress within our company”, says Nico Neumann, VP Operations and Programme.

"Investing in young generations is investing in the future. We are looking forward to this cooperation and offer a wide area of trainings and qualification beyond apprenticeships within the aviation industry”, says Robert Voit, founder of AERO-Bildung.

Applications will open in October 2021. More information on the application process will be published on our website in October 2021.

The first half of 2021 has been filled with thrilling developments for Deutsche Aircraft.

We have made important progress and are moving ahead along the PDR (Product Design Review) of the D328eco,  having key suppliers and partnerships on board.

Besides, to further minimize our environmental impact, we have concluded several agreements to work on technology proof-of-concepts for hydrogen to be fitted on our former D328® aircraft.

To give us the means to match our ambitions, we launched an employer branding campaign to recruit talents to help us write an important page of the aviation history together.

Since our last industry update in December 2020, where we formally announced Deutsche Aircraft’s name for the very first time, we have been working on the brand transitioning from 328SSG to Deutsche Aircraft. Step by step, we are moving closer to complete the process in September 2021.

To make this transition a success and shape a strong global brand, we have created a new visual identity that represents our commitment to ambitious environmental objectives. I am delighted to share with you the story behind the brand.

Finally, we announced officially our technological partnerships and progresses in five press releases that have received broad media coverage.

Enjoy the read!

Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft

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Deutsche Aircraft Progresses

D328eco Platform

We are proud to announce that we have selected Garmin G5000 avionics to be fitted in our newly designed CompanionTM flight deck. The implementation of the Garmin avionics is one key enabling system towards future Single Pilot Operation capability for our D328eco platform. In parallel, we are developing in our hangar in Oberpaffenhofen a mock-up of the cockpit fitted with our CompanionTM flight deck design to do preliminary testing.

Next to our avionics system, we have also selected a supplier for the D328eco empennage.  We will be working with GKN Aerospace on the development of the empennage and the industrialisation of this airframe main assembly, which includes the rear fuselage and the vertical- and horizontal tail plane fin. The empennage will feature advanced lightweight solutions involving state-of-the-art composite technology.

Furthermore, we have successfully concluded the first series of tests on the new landing gear being developed to be fitted into the D328eco with our partner Heggemann AG. The landing gear development programme has now officially entered into the detail design phase.

The onboarding of other key suppliers is ongoing and more news will be announced soon.

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Future Technology Development

Deutsche Aircraft’s objective is to fly zero CO2 emissions regional aircraft. We believe in the potential of hydrogen technology to help us reach this goal.

To help move this technology further in the aerospace industry, Deutsche Aircraft has signed two Memorandum of Understanding with two companies developing hydrogen technologies, H2Fly, who works on hydrogen fuel cells, and Universal Hydrogen, who works on hydrogen tanks.

Deutsche Aircraft will work together with H2Fly on the research and development of Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology for commercial regional aircraft. We will equip a D328® platform with a 1.5MW hydrogen system and we are planning to have the first flight of our demonstrator by the end of 2025.

In parallel, we will work with Universal Hydrogen on a design study to incorporate Universal Hydrogen’s modular capsule technology into the D328® platform.

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Deutsche Aircraft: Your Place to Lift Off!

As we previously emphasized since the launch of the program, our ability to build up the team to face the challenges and opportunities ahead is and will remain vital.

To attract the best talents, our HR team did not leave any stones unturned. They have been conducting an employer branding campaign whose objective was to promote Deutsche Aircraft’s reputation and brand to be recognised as an employer of choice within the aerospace industry.

Deutsche Aircraft is a great family of passionate and experienced aviation people. We are looking for colleagues who also share our passion for aviation and for the environment.

Tune in to our video and meet our colleagues and learn more about our work.

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Welcome: New Leadership Onboard

2021 has been a dynamic year when it comes to hiring and onboarding. We are increasingly seeing more “new faces” around the office. We are delighted to welcome onboard these passionate colleagues whose values align with ours and who believe in what Deutsche Aircraft represents. Together, we will make sustainable aviation a reality.

Among our new talents, we recently welcomed two new Heads of Department to strengthen our engineering team with their experience and expertise. Meet Silvia Bianchi, our Director of Aircraft Architecture, and Regina Pouzolz, our Director of Sustainability.

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Silvia Bianchi joined Deutsche Aircraft as Director of Aircraft Architecture. She is responsible for aircraft architecture for all future, current (D328eco) and legacy programmes, managing flight physics, powerplant, product safety, technical configuration and design integration.

A skilled aeronautical engineering leader and technology product development director with over 20 years’ experience in high-tech and engineering integration, Silvia joins us from the Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation where she was IPT Director and Engineering Director for Aircraft Integration, Safety and V&V. Her previous global industry experience also includes Bombardier Aerospace, Diamond Aircraft, and Ferrari.

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Regina Pouzolz joined Deutsche Aircraft as Director of Sustainability.

Regina started her aerospace career almost 20 years ago in Airbus’ Future Projects Office in Toulouse, where she developed an aircraft design methodology for minimum impact on climate. She then moved to McKinsey and Co. as a Senior Consultant in strategy, organization and product development, before heading back into the aerospace industry at MTU Aero Engines. There, Regina worked in Advanced Design and Business Development, where she introduced climate impact as part of the overall evaluation of future engine concepts.

Regina holds a PhD from TU Munich and a diploma of Ecole Centrale Paris.

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Deutsche Aircraft Brand Identity Story

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At Deutsche Aircraft, we do not only bring expertise in aviation engineering: we drive innovation with passion. Reducing our environmental impact and stimulating sustainable economic and social growth along the way are part of our DNA.

Thus, when creating our new brand and logo, we did not solely focus on aviation. We brought “nature” into our visual identity. Our logo stems from the shape of a Humming bird. This bird represents well our values.

A Humming bird is energy efficient and versatile – it can fly up to 2000 miles tirelessly and in any direction. Its long beak allows it to reach the sweetest parts of flowers that other birds can’t get to, which makes it highly adaptable. While being the smallest bird in the world, the Humming bird is very agile and robust.

Deutsche Aircraft is developing an energy efficient and versatile aircraft that can land on unpaved runways, allowing it to reach remote locations. Building on a robust engineering background and decades of experience, Deutsche Aircraft has unrivalled ambitions to shape the future of our industry. Just like the Humming bird, we, Deutsche Aircraft, are small and robust while being simultaneously sustainable, adaptable and perfectly engineered.

Deutsche Aircraft, the new purpose-driven German aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and UniversalHydrogen Co., the company fueling carbon-free flight, today announced a technical collaboration  to advance the decarbonization of aviation, a global imperative in the fight against climate change. Together, the two companies will complete a design study to incorporate Universal Hydrogen’s modular capsule technology into the Dornier 328 program.

“We see hydrogen as the only realistic approach foraviation to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen. “We are tackling the biggest obstacle to near-term hydrogen adoption: its delivery and distribution to airports and aircraft globally without costly infrastructure. This partnership with Deutsche Aircraft will accelerate our shared goal to put aviation on a trajectory toward true zero carbon emissions.”

The joint effort will analyze the size and integration of the modular capsule technology for hydrogen storage into the aircraft structure and systems (including loading and unloading considerations); aircraft weight and balance; hydrogen cost (infrastructure and fuel); mission performance; and the hydrogen logistics network design. In addition, both Universal Hydrogen and Deutsche Aircraft will work closely with regional and federal German government and European Union entities regarding the development, production, and implementation of the study and project.

“Deutsche Aircraft is committed to enter the new era of climate-neutral aviation. Partnering with companies that share our passion for climate-friendly design like Universal Hydrogen allow us to accelerate our vision for decarbonization,” said Martin Nüsseler, chief technology officer for Deutsche Aircraft. “We are excited to leverage Universal Hydrogen’s technical expertise to assess the safe and affordable use of hydrogen onboard our aircraft as part of our journey to zero emissions.”  

As a key milestone within the D328ecoTM aircraft development programme, Deutsche Aircraft is proud to announce that it has successfully concluded the first series of tests at the facilities ofthe Germany-based partner Heggemann on the new landing gear, currently in development to be fitted onto the D328ecoTM aircraft. The landing gear developmen tprogramme has now officially entered into the detail design phase.

As part of the development programme, Heggemann is building three testbeds for systems engineering bench tests as well as evaluation on first prototypes for the D328ecoTM. Heggemann will provide the complete landing gear structures and systems of both main- and nose landing gear.

This new landing gear will allow the D328ecoTM to inherit the robustness of its predecessor D328, and will increase operational capabilities towards the higher aircraft operational weight. Furthermore, the new landing gears will support unpaved runway operation, on a variety of rough surfaces such as grass, gravel, ice and sand.  

“We're glad to get Heggemann as a strong business partner with key capabilities, know-how and a great team spirit on board of the D328ecoTM programme. We are confident that Heggemann is the right partner to industrialise and produce our Landing Gear, which is a key element of the versatility, mission flexibility and performance of the D328ecoTM”, said Nico Neumann, Vice President Operations and Programmes of Deutsche Aircraft.

Deutsche Aircraft’s partnership with Heggemann is not only built upon strong past collaborations, but is also further strengthened by the two companies sharing similar visions. Both are dedicated to sustainable and efficient Industry 4.0 manufacturing. While Deutsche Aircraft is planning to build a state-of-the-art final assembly line in Leipzig, Heggemann already implemented a fully digital 360° end-to-end process and product lifecycle tracking system. Both companies keep the majority of production in Germany and benefit from experienced aviation talents in building Germany’s next regional aircraft.

“We are delighted to join effort on this exciting new D328eco programme which is being developed at an opportune time where the world is more and more opening to air travel, sometime without the possibility to offer proper runways to land or infrastructure to support the aircraft and crew. Being highly flexible, with short runway performances, the D328eco aircraft plays in a class of its own and the current work on the landing gear will increase the reach of destinations’ possibilities. Besides, working with Deutsche Aircraft is further supporting the development of collaborative opportunities within the local supply chain while supporting the growth of the German aviation’s industry”, said Robert Heggemann, CEO and founder of Heggemann.

The Deutsche Aircraft program, currently in concept design phase, is focused on the specification of the new systems, qualification of materials and new production process to align with today standards and secure efficiency for the industrialisation. The regional aircraft program continues to be led out of Oberpfaffenhofen airport near Munich and planning work has commenced to establish the final assembly line at Leipzig Halle Airport.

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• Parties plan to fly a Dornier 328 demonstrator, zero carbon emissions, hydrogen fuel cell aircraft in 2025
• Project designed to demonstrate potential for climate-neutral regional flights
• H2FLY already flew the world’s first hydrogen-electric passenger flight and demonstrated longest ever hydrogen fuel cell-powered flight in 2020
• Partnership demonstrates German leadership in hydrogen technology
  

H2FLY, a German start-up developing hydrogen fuel cell systems for aircraft, and Deutsche Aircraft, a new German aircraft manufacturer putting climate change at the centerstage of their design philosophy, today announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) to work together on the research and development of Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology for commercial regional aircraft.

The partnership will see the two companies convert the Dornier 328 aircraft for hydrogen flight, with the demonstrator aircraft expected to take to the skies in 2025. The program is expected to validate the potential for hydrogen to deliver climate neutral regional air travel with up to 40 seats, while demonstrating German leadership in this important field.

Having grown out of a partnership between the German Aerospace Center and the University of Ulm, H2FLY has demonstrated innovative Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology in aviation. The four-seater hydrogen-electric-powered HY4 proved successfully in multiply flight campaigns and over 70 take-offs the applicability of this technology in aviation. With its range of up to 750 km regional markets can be developed.

Today’s announcement marks the next step on the journey towards making climate neutral regional flight a reality, with the teams planning to equip the demonstrator aircraft with a 1.5MW hydrogen system, making it the most powerful hydrogen-electric-powered aircraft to date.

The project will see the companies work together on integrating the power system into the aircraft as well as defining the specific technical and certification requirements for fuel cell systems in EASA’s large aircraft class (“CS25”). The project is designed to complement the German Federal Government’s Aviation Strategy.

Commenting on the announcement, Prof. Dr. Josef Kallo, co-founder and CEO, H2FLY, said: “Flying provides an incredibly important opportunity for humankind, but today that opportunity comes at a significant cost to our planet.

“Hydrogen fuel cell technology provides an opportunity for us to completely eliminate carbon and NOx emissions from regional flights and the technology to make that happen is closer than most people think.

 “Over the last 16 years we have worked hard to demonstrate our technology on smaller aircraft, completing record breaking flights based six powertrain generations. Today we’re pleased to be taking that to the next level with Deutsche Aircraft as we scale our efforts up to regional aircraft.”

Martin Nüßeler, CTO at Deutsche Aircraft, added: “Deutsche Aircraft is convinced that the higher propulsive efficiency of propeller powered aircraft will drive the change in propulsion technology and will result in reducing fuel consumption and emissions even further in the future. Combining modern propeller aircraft design with zero carbon energy sources is central to achieving climate-neutral air transportation. “

“We are looking forward to partner with companies that do not only share our passion for the environment, but also have the technical expertise to ensure that climate-optimised aviation stays safe and reliable, we are convinced the partnership with H2FLY will move us forward on the path to applying hydrogen fuel cells in larger aircraft.”   

Walter Schoefer, Spokesman of the Management Board of Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH (FSG), says: “The process of transforming aviation into a climate-friendly form of air transport is now gaining momentum in a tangible way. This partnership combines pioneering spirit and world-class science with decades of experience in aircraft engineering. We are convinced that this is a milestone on the road to zero-emission aircraft. As an airport, we are called to act as an enabler on this path. As fairport, we want to continue to be a pioneer in the area of sustainability.”

Thomas Jarzombek, Member of the German Bundestag, Coordinator of the Federal Government for German Aerospace, made the following remarks: “From 2035 onward hybrid-electric flying has to be the new standard in Germany. I am happy about the agreed technological cooperation for a sustainable aviation made in Germany. The German Government will continue to support this path to innovation with its R&D funding program aiming to let the vision of a Zero-Emission Aircraft become reality”

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Deutsche Aircraft selected GKN Aerospace for D328eco’s Empennage production. The global Tier 1 aerospace supplier is one of the world’s market leaders in aerostructures and is aligned with Deutsche Aircraft in advanced technologies. 

D328eco is a new 40-seat turbo prop aircraft being developed by Deutsche Aircraft. Based on the proven D328 platform, the D328eco not only inherits the aerodynamic advanced D328 performance, but also will focus on sustainability for both product and production. In the development of D328eco, Deutsche Aircraft looks for reliable and environmentally conscious partners. 

GKN Aerospace is a Tier 1 aerospace supplier serving over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine OEMs, and is market leading in empennages for business and regional aircraft. Deutsche Aircraft will be working with GKN Aerospace on the development of the empennage and the industrialisation of this airframe main assembly which includes the rear fuselage and the vertical- and horizontal tail plane fin. The empennage will feature advanced lightweight solutions involving state-of-the-art composite technology. Working in partnership, both businesses are committed to continuously improve the environmental performance of the platform. 

Deutsche Aircraft commits to deliver significant improvements in operations and maintenance. We are glad to have GKN Aerospace as a partner who aligns on the mission of supporting the success of the aircraft program.

Nico Neumann, Vice President of Operations and Programmes for Deutsche Aircraft said: “The selection of GKN Aerospace with their deep knowledge and long history in advanced composite materials and processes is a perfect fit to the D328eco programme and aligns with the objectives from Deutsche Aircraft.”

John Pritchard, President Civil Airframe GKN Aerospace said: “In the quest for more sustainable and environmentally friendly aviation, we are excited to become part of the D328eco programme. GKN Aerospace is proud to bring its wealth of experience in design and certification, in conjunction with key technological innovations on lightweight composites.” 

Dietmar Czaia, General Manager at GKN Aerospace’s Munich facility, said “We are proud to be a part of the D328eco programme and a part of the German Aerospace ecosystem relaunching this great aircraft. This programme will secure jobs and create future growth for the Munich facility.”

The program, currently in concept design phase, is focused on the maturity of new systems and materials required to support the aircraft industrialisation. The regional aircraft programme continues to be led out of Oberpfaffenhofen airport near Munich and planning work has commenced on establishment of the FAL at Leipzig Halle Airport.

As a key milestone within the D328eco aircraft development program, Deutsche Aircraft is proud to announce it has selected the Garmin® G5000® avionic suite, to equip the brand-new benchmark, Companion™ flight deck: a built-in and fully integrated avionics suite that will be fitted on the new D328eco™ aircraft.

Deutsche Aircraft is driving innovation in the overall flight deck design for commercial aircraft. This announcement marks the very first time a new flight deck is fitted into a below 50-seat regional aircraft category since the beginning of the 21st century.

Through the D328eco program, Garmin is opening a new chapter by introducing for the first time an avionics flight deck into a Part 25 air transport, scheduled commercial operation aircraft. 

We are honored to work with the Deutsche Aircraft team to help achieve their mission of providing the D328eco aircraft as a disruptive new entrant into the regional air transportation market,” said Creighton Scarpone, Garmin director of airline and business aviation sales. “The G5000 integrated flight deck, optimized specifically for the D328eco, brings an established solution into the segment, and offers a scalable platform to meet both current and forward-looking needs of operators around the world.”

As main design goals, the new Companion™ flight deck is being developed to offer a cognitive & intuitive operation, with reduced workload, enhanced ergonomics, safety and improved maintainability. To achieve these main design goals, some features and characteristics are being implemented like touchscreen control for avionics and aircraft systems, flight path-based guidance, enhanced synthetic vision, active electronic checklists, increased system automation & integration, single lever engine control and paperless operations capability. 

The implementation of the Garmin avionics into the Companion™ flight deck is one key enabling system towards future Single Pilot Operation capability. 

To enhance safety, an important focus and attention has been given to human factors, increased situational awareness and features like envelope protection, automatic emergency descent mode and runway awareness and alerting. Offering a flexible and configurable maintenance computer, highly integrated built-in testing and diagnostic functions with quick and easy upload and download of data, the Companion™ flight deck will offer unprecedented maintainability. 

“The new Companion™ flight deck has been designed whilst keeping in mind all requirements and expectations of the market allowing a total control of how we have designed it. Its functionalities really make Deutsche Aircraft’s innovative vision a reality.” said Dave Jackson, Managing Director of Deutsche Aircraft. “The new D328eco Companion™ flight deck features a significant leap in enabling pilots to successfully complete their mission, whether it is flying commercial passengers or special operations.” 

The Deutsche Aircraft program, currently in preliminary design review phase, is focused on the maturity of new systems and materials required to support the aircraft design targets and industrialisation. The regional aircraft program continues to be led out of Oberpfaffenhofen airport near Munich and planning work has commenced to establish the final assembly line at Leipzig Halle Airport.