Deutsche Aircraft has acknowledged another major delay to the D328eco program, with the new regional turboprop now expected to enter service only in late 2029, around two years later than the company's previous target.
The revised timeline is the largest single postponement yet for the 40-seat aircraft. Deutsche Aircraft had previously targeted the fourth quarter of 2027 for entry into service, itself the result of an earlier delay announced in 2024.
CEO Nico Neumann disclosed the new schedule in a recent interview, saying the first D328eco test aircraft, known as TAC 1, is now expected to make its maiden flight in the first half of 2027. Certification activities will then continue through 2028 and 2029, with entry into service planned for the end of that year.
Neumann cited supply-chain constraints, increasingly complex certification requirements and new regulatory demands, including cybersecurity, among the factors behind the revised schedule.
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The latest delay puts the D328eco roughly four years behind its earliest entry-into-service target. Deutsche Aircraft initially planned to introduce the aircraft in 2025, subsequently moved the target to late 2026 and, in 2024, postponed it again to the fourth quarter of 2027.
TAC 1 remains on the ground
The new schedule also means TAC 1 will remain on the ground considerably longer than originally expected.
Deutsche Aircraft rolled out the first test aircraft in May 2025 at its facility in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. At the time, the company expected it to fly later that year. The maiden flight was subsequently moved into 2026, most recently to the second half of this year.
TAC 1 is the first of several aircraft intended to support the D328eco certification campaign. The prolonged interval between rollout and first flight illustrates how much development work remains before the aircraft can begin the flight-test program required for certification.
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There has been progress elsewhere in the program. An older Dornier 328 modified with the new landing gear developed for the D328eco completed its first development flight campaign in September. The aircraft performed five flights totaling more than 15 hours after low- and high-speed taxi tests, allowing Deutsche Aircraft and HEGGEMANN to validate the new system before it flies on the D328eco itself.
Industrial preparations continue
Deutsche Aircraft has also opened its new final assembly line at Leipzig/Halle Airport. At its inauguration in September, the industrial timeline already raised questions about the Q4 2027 service-entry target: the first aircraft assembled there was expected only in early 2027, while serial production was planned to begin in 2028.
A late-2029 entry into service subsequently appeared in German media, but Deutsche Aircraft had not formally announced another revision comparable to its 2024 postponement. Neumann's latest comments now provide a clearer schedule extending the certification campaign through 2029.
The D328eco is a heavily redesigned successor to the Dornier 328 turboprop, with a stretched fuselage, new avionics and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127XT-S engines. The aircraft is designed to carry up to 40 passengers and operate from relatively short runways.
Deutsche Aircraft has positioned the type as a modern replacement for aging small regional turboprops, a segment with few new-production alternatives. Its Leipzig facility was designed for eventual production of as many as 48 aircraft per year.
