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The Dornier 328 is 30-34 seat turboprop powered commuter
airliner designed and engineered by Dornier in Oberpfaffenhofen,
Germany. Development of the 328 started in 1985, after Dornier decided
to redesign the fuselage of the Dornier 228. After Dornier's market
research had indicated a substantial market for regional airliners in
the 30-seat class it was decided to develop the Dornier 328. Work began
in December 1988, culminating in the first development aircraft's
rollout on 13 October 1991 and the first flight on 6 December 1991. The
328 was awarded EJAA certification on 15 October 1993. First customer
deliveries occurred on 21 October 1993, when the Dornier 328-110 s/n
3005 HB-AEE was handed over to the Swiss scheduled carrier Air
Engiadina. The initial 328-100 was followed by the production standard
328-110 with redesigned aerodynamics and increased performance. Other
models are the 328-120 with improved short field performance and the
328-130 with progressive rudder authority reduction with increasing
airspeed. In June 1996 Fairchild Aerospace acquired 80% of Dornier to form
Fairchild-Dornier GmbH, but production of the 328 had stopped already before the
Fairchild Dornier name became effective on 8 August 2000. In 2002, Fairchild Dornier
filed bankruptcy and the court appointed administrator determined that the company had to be sold in pieces.
The US company AvCraft Aviation acquired the Fairchild-Dornier’s 328
program, including the 328 production line at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
Early 2005 AvCraft Aerospace GmbH, the German subsidiary of AvCraft
Aviation was declared insolvent at a German court at Weilsheim. In
December 2005, UK’s Corporate Jet Services Ltd purchased the former
AvCraft Aerospace GmbH. On 2 January 2006, Corporate Jet Services Ltd
created the German subsidiary '328 Support Services GmbH', headquartered
at Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich. It holds the type certificate of the
Dornier 328 Jet and Turboprop aircraft plus the Dornier 428, and is
carrying on the worldwide support of the aircraft. Part of the company’s
strategy was to work towards returning to service the Dornier 328
aircraft which were parked in Europa and US.In February 2015, 328 Support Services GmbH itself was
acquired by the US engineering company Sierra Nevada Corporation. Shortly thereafter, Seirra Nevada's owner,
Turkish-American Engineer Fatih Ozmen, established a private corporation named Özjet Havacilik Teknolojileri A.S.
at Technopark of Bilkent University, Ankara and signed a Memorandum of understanding with the Turkish Ministry of
Transport, Maritime Affairs & Communications in order to manufacture the 328 at Ankara. |
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City Star Airlines was founded in 2005 as a subsidiary of Atlandsflug ehf and was based at Aberdeen Airport,
Scotland, UK. City Star Airlines used IATA code: X9, ICAO code: ISL and callsign: ISLANDIA. City Star Airlines
operated a fleet of three Dornier 328-110 commuter airliners. Their Dornier 328-110 TF-CSB was seen at Groningen
Airport Eelde in the Netherlands on 22 September 2006. The 1997-built Dornier 328-110 c/n 3093 was test flown with
Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH as D-CDXD. In December 1997, the aircraft entered service with the Italian operator Minerva
Airlines as D-CPRV. On 25 October 2003, Minerva Airlines suspended operations due to bankruptcy. Since, Dornier 328
D-CPRV was for a period operated by Air Alps in Austria. On 15 September 2005, the Dornier 328-110 was registered
TF-CSB in Iceland with Eagle Air-Arnaflug and entered service with City Star Airlines. After the collapse of City
Star Airlines on 30 January 2008, Dornier TF-CSB was inpounded at Aberdeen. Registration TF-CSB was cancelled in
April 2008. The intention was that the aircraft would enter service with Cirrus Luftfahrt as D-CIRT but Cirrus Luftfahrt
ran into financial problems. On 17 May 2011, the Dornier 328-110 was registered N545EF with US Air Force Special Operations Command. |
Luchtvaart déjà vu
