LEIPZING, Germany—A new aircraft manufacturer, called DRA, has been launched to develop an updated version of the Dornier 328 aircraft, known as the D328NEU. DRA is being set up by 328 Support Services GmbH, a subsidiary of the Sierra Nevada Corp. in partnership with the German government.
The D328NEU will likely be a twin turbo-prop aircraft, according to an image released on DRA’s website. More details of the aircraft’s specification and its development timeline are expected to be released before April 2020.
DRA plans to recruit up to 250 people to work at its production facilities in Leipzig, and an additional 100 plus jobs will be created at 328 Support Services headquarters in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich.
328 Support Services is the type certificate holder of the Dornier 328 aircraft and supports the existing fleet of Dornier 328s and 328JETS throughout the world. The original Dornier 328 was a twin-turboprop engined regional aircraft, with a range of 1,800 kilometers that could carry up to 33 passengers.