Corporate Jet Services, parent of UK business aviation operator Club328, has acquired the design rights for the 328Jet and 328 turboprop from bankrupt AvCraft Aerospace, beating off a rival bid from Switzerland’s Ruag.
Club328 chief executive Mike Farge says production will cease after completion of the three remaining airframes at the factory in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich. Club328 plans to use the site as a maintenance centre for 328s, a German base for charter operations and possibly cabin conversions.
“We will be able to do STCs [supplemental type certificates] once we have design authority, so we could buy used 328Jets and convert them for our needs,” says Farge.
About two-thirds of the 140 staff at Oberpfaffenhofen will keep their jobs.
Source: Flight International
