Deutsche Aircraft has opened a final assembly line at Leipzig/Halle Airport (LEJ) with capacity to build up to 48 D328eco turboprops per year, marking the program's formal transition from development to production.

The manufacturer held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 29, 2026, at the new site, which spans 60,500 square meters and houses the Final Assembly Line (FAL). The facility anchors the German OEM's industrialization plan for the D328eco, a next-generation regional turboprop derived from the Dornier 328 platform.

According to Deutsche Aircraft, the FAL "incorporates advanced manufacturing technologies, automated logistics systems and paperless production processes to increase efficiency, quality and transparency throughout aircraft assembly." The company has not yet disclosed firm order commitments tied to the new capacity, and the 48-aircraft annual output figure represents installed capacity rather than contracted demand.

The schedule is concrete but still forward-loaded. The first D328eco to be assembled at Leipzig is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027, with series production planned to begin in 2028. Certification, flight testing and engineering remain based at Oberpfaffenhofen, meaning the program still depends on regulatory milestones at the original site before serial output ramps.

Leipzig will handle aircraft assembly, flight-readiness activities and global customer deliveries. Oberpfaffenhofen retains engineering, flight testing and certification work.

The company frames the facility as more than a production asset. Beyond supporting the D328eco program, the FAL "strengthens Germany's ability to design, certify, test, manufacture and support complete aircraft," Deutsche Aircraft said.

"Together, our sites in Oberpfaffenhofen and Leipzig create an end-to-end capability for developing, certifying, industrialising, manufacturing and supporting complete aircraft in Germany," Nico Neumann, CEO of Deutsche Aircraft, said. "For the first time in more than 60 years, every phase of the aircraft lifecycle will be integrated under a German aircraft programme."

Neumann positioned the plant within a broader industrial and political context. "Carrying forward Dornier's pioneering legacy, the FAL strengthens Germany's resilience, competitiveness and sovereign aerospace capabilities while advancing a new generation of sustainable regional aviation," he said.

The claim of a first fully integrated German aircraft lifecycle in over six decades underscores the strategic weight Berlin-area and Bavarian officials are placing on the program. For regional operators, however, the near-term questions are more prosaic: certification progress at Oberpfaffenhofen, delivery slots from 2028 onward, and whether demand materializes to fill the Leipzig line's 48-aircraft annual capacity.

With the first Leipzig-assembled aircraft due in the first quarter of 2027 and series production to follow in 2028, the D328eco program now faces the transition from facility announcements to sustained output against its stated ramp.