On the sidelines of the 57th Annual General Assembly of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), held late last year, African Pilot Magazine spoke with Reinhard Schwaiger, Sales Director at Deutsche Aircraft, about the company’s new 40-seat turboprop, the D328eco, and how the aircraft is being positioned for African markets.
Schwaiger describes Deutsche Aircraft as a German-based OEM with an unusual combination of attributes. On the one hand, it is still relatively young in its current corporate form. On the other, it carries roughly a century of German aeronautical heritage behind it. Around 600 people are currently employed in Germany on the programme, with a clear focus: bringing the D328eco to market, with entry into service targeted for the end of 2027.
From Deutsche Aircraft’s perspective, Africa is not an afterthought but a core application market for the aircraft. The D328eco has effectively been sized and configured with African regional routes in mind.
Regional connectivity and an ageing fleet
Schwaiger points out that, in many parts of Africa, travelling between two countries within the continent can still be more complex than flying via Europe or the Middle East. That structural gap in intra-African connectivity is precisely where he sees a strong role for efficient regional aircraft in the 30 to 50 seat class.
Deutsche Aircraft has mapped the current African regional fleet and notes that a significant portion of the airframes flying today are more than 30 years old. Many fall into older-generation turboprop and regional jet categories. This ageing profile is associated with higher fuel burn and escalating maintenance costs, as well as challenges around parts availability.
In Schwaiger’s view, this creates a dual opportunity. There is a clear replacement market for existing “thin” and secondary routes, and better economics and performance make it more feasible to open new point-to-point connections that have historically been underserved or left unserved altogether.
He notes that Deutsche Aircraft is already in discussions with a broad mix of African stakeholders, including established carriers, start-ups and specialist operators, as well as customers in sectors such as oil and gas, where fly-in, fly-out operations are central to project economics.
New aircraft, familiar roots
The D328eco is derived from the Dornier 328 turboprop, which has a long operational track record. However, Schwaiger stresses that the new aircraft is a fresh design rather than a minor update.
The fuselage is being stretched by 2.2 metres compared with the original Dornier 328 turboprop. The aircraft receives new engines, a new landing gear system and a completely updated avionics suite. The cockpit will feature the Garmin G5000 Prime flight deck, with single-lever power control, and an architecture designed to reduce pilot workload while supporting higher levels of automation and situational awareness.
In the cabin, Deutsche Aircraft has invested heavily in reworking the interior layout, ergonomics and acoustic environment. Schwaiger acknowledges that turboprops are often perceived by passengers as noisier than jets, but he expects the D328eco to challenge that perception, offering a noticeably more comfortable turboprop experience while retaining the practical advantages of propeller-driven regional aircraft.
Built for challenging African environments
A central design pillar for the aircraft is the ability to work in challenging operating environments, which are common across Africa. Schwaiger highlights the aircraft’s environmental envelope, noting that the D328eco is being engineered for operations in temperatures from approximately minus 40 degrees Celsius up to around plus 50 degrees Celsius.
Runway performance is another key focus. The aircraft is intended to operate safely into and out of short, demanding runways, including those at higher elevations and in hot-and-high conditions. Schwaiger notes that the D328eco will be capable of serving airfields at elevations close to 12,000 feet.
He also points to short take-off and landing (STOL) performance as particularly relevant for operators in East Africa and other tourism-heavy regions. The aircraft is designed to access bush and semi-prepared strips, including dirt runways commonly found in destinations such as the Serengeti or Maasai Mara.
In practical terms, this allows tourism operators to link city gateways like Arusha directly with remote lodges, cutting travel times and improving the overall value proposition for high-yield leisure traffic.
Performance with turboprop economics
From an operator’s perspective, however, runway and temperature performance are only one part of the equation. Schwaiger highlights the economics of the D328eco and the need to help African airlines reduce unit costs.
Deutsche Aircraft positions the D328eco as a turboprop that delivers jet-like performance while retaining the fuel efficiency traditionally associated with propeller-driven aircraft. Comparing the D328eco with legacy regional jets in the 30 to 50 seat bracket, Schwaiger indicates that operators can expect fuel savings of around 50 percent. When compared with older-generation turboprops, the D328eco is projected to offer fuel burn reductions of roughly 30 percent.
He emphasises that these savings are not academic. African carriers operate in environments where margins are thin, and exposure to fuel price volatility is high. Lower fuel consumption translates directly into improved route viability and more scope to sustain marginal or developmental routes.
Maintenance economics form another crucial part of the value proposition. As fleets age, heavy checks, corrosion issues and component fatigue all begin to drive maintenance costs sharply upward. Schwaiger notes that the D328eco, as a new platform, is being designed to address those lifecycle cost pressures from the outset, with the aim of providing predictable, more manageable maintenance profiles over the aircraft’s operational life.
SAF-ready and future-proofed
Sustainability and, in particular, the transition to lower-carbon operations, is increasingly central to OEM and operator decision-making. From the beginning, the D328eco has been planned as a sustainable platform within the conventional turboprop category.
Schwaiger explains that Deutsche Aircraft is focusing on turboprop propulsion specifically because of its inherent efficiency. The aircraft will be powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW127XT-S, a variant that supports the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel. From entry into service, the D328eco will be able to operate on SAF, conventional Jet A-1, or blends of the two, depending on local availability and cost.
Given that aircraft typically remain in service for more than 30 years, and often even longer in Africa, this future-ready approach is intended to ensure that airframes bought in the late 2020s remain aligned with evolving regulatory and environmental requirements over their entire lifecycle.
Schwaiger notes that this is a key consideration for African operators. Investing in a new aircraft type is not simply a five- or ten-year decision. It is a choice that must remain viable over decades, across changing fuel regimes and environmental policies.
Capacity, altitude and right-sizing
The D328eco is configured as a 40-seat aircraft, with flexibility to install fewer seats if required for particular markets or mission profiles. Schwaiger argues that this capacity bracket is particularly relevant for Africa.
He notes that it is generally much easier to profitably fill a 40-seat aircraft than a 70 or 78-seat platform, especially on emerging or secondary routes. The resulting lower break-even load factor can be a decisive factor in whether a route can be launched and sustained.
From a performance perspective, the aircraft is designed to cruise at altitudes up to Flight Level 300 (FL300 or 30,000feet), and will be equipped with an on-board oxygen system to support those heights. In Schwaiger’s view, this combination of high cruise capability, short-field performance and right-sized capacity is not widely available in the current production landscape.
Multi-role flexibility: cargo, ISR and medevac
Deutsche Aircraft is not limiting the D328eco to a pure passenger configuration. Schwaiger confirms that the company has already developed studies for multiple specialised variants.
These include a dedicated cargo version, reflecting the continuing growth of e-commerce and express logistics, as well as special mission configurations for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), border and maritime patrol, and medical evacuation.
He notes that the legacy Dornier 328 turboprop already has a significant footprint in the special mission space. One of the largest single operators is the United States Air Force, which flies more than 20 aircraft globally in various roles. Demonstrations of the type operating from very short strips, including landing distances below 350 metres in a military environment, underline the basic airframe capability that the D328eco will build on.
For African states seeking multi-role platforms that can support both civil and government functions, this flexibility could prove particularly attractive.
Training, support and the wider ecosystem
Schwaiger is keen to stress that Deutsche Aircraft is not looking at Africa purely through a sales lens. Instead, the company is working on the basis of an ecosystem approach that takes in training, maintenance and ongoing support.
Roughly 150 legacy Dornier 328 airframes are still in service worldwide, and there is already an established support infrastructure for these aircraft. Deutsche Aircraft is in the process of enhancing this network, with plans to expand service centres, pilot training facilities and other elements of the support chain.
The location of future service centres and training hubs will, he explains, be heavily influenced by early customers. As more aircraft enter service in particular regions, the economic case for locating maintenance and training infrastructure closer to those operators becomes stronger.
At present, Deutsche Aircraft has announced a launch customer in Germany, and Schwaiger reports that discussions with African operators are “serious and ongoing” across several subregions.
Delivery slots, leasing pressure and export credit
In terms of timing, the D328eco’s entry into service remains targeted for the end of 2027. Production slots in 2028 are already in demand. Schwaiger notes that the company still has some capacity in that timeframe, but that these positions are filling up quickly as interest grows.
Compared with some other OEM programmes, he believes Deutsche Aircraft can offer relatively favourable delivery timelines. The company is also trying to maintain a degree of flexibility to help operators with specific timing constraints. In some cases, this may involve reprioritising deliveries where one customer can wait slightly longer and another has a more pressing requirement.
Financing, however, remains a major challenge for African operators. In some cases, he says, lessors are requiring deposits equivalent to two or three months of lease payments, which can be extremely demanding for smaller carriers with lean cost structures. Deutsche Aircraft is responding by engaging directly with key lessors and working to structure financing solutions that are more aligned with the realities of African operations. In addition, Deutsche Aircraft is also in discussions with export credit agencies to support transactions and facilitate access to more competitive funding structures for African buyers.
Skills transfer and local capability
Industrialisation, local skills development and technology transfer are high on the agenda for many African governments. Schwaiger acknowledges that these themes are becoming increasingly central in conversations with potential customers.
He notes that there is a strong need, not only to support aircraft operations through centralised facilities, but also to build local capacity to maintain and support the aircraft. In some markets, it is now harder to find qualified engineers than pilots and this imbalance can quickly become a bottleneck.
Deutsche Aircraft is therefore looking at how it can contribute to local workforce development, particularly in maintenance and engineering disciplines, as part of its broader engagement with African operators and authorities. In Schwaiger’s view, sustainable aviation in Africa is as much about local economic and skills sustainability as it is about fuel types and emissions.
A platform mapped to African realities
Taken together, the elements of the D328eco programme reveal a platform that has been consciously mapped to African operating realities:
- A 40-seat configuration that supports route development and lower break-even thresholds
- Short-field performance and the ability to operate from demanding bush and high-elevation runways
- Jet-like performance combined with turboprop fuel burn, targeting significant reductions versus legacy jets and older turboprops
- SAF-ready propulsion and a design horizon aligned with three-decade service lives
- Multi-role flexibility across passenger, cargo, ISR and medevac applications
- A growing global support network with scope for regional service centres and training facilities
- Active engagement on financing, leasing structures and export credit support
As African airlines grapple with ageing fleets, rising costs and persistent connectivity gaps, Deutsche Aircraft is positioning the D328eco as a tool not only for replacement but for network growth.
The next few years, as the aircraft moves through certification towards entry into service, will likely determine how significant a role it ultimately plays in reshaping regional aviation across the continent.
