The Dornier division of Fairchild Dornier has signed a five-year contract with Airbus covering parts manufacture for the consortium's entire product line.
Fairchild Dornier says that the contract is worth some DM500 million ($285 million) to the company, and covers the delivery of parts for 1,400 aircraft up to 2002. The parts include rear fuselages, bulkheads, flaps and elements of the cabin-floor structure.
Dornier has taken part in the development of every Airbus type. It says that the new contract represents a renewal of confidence since its 1996 takeover by Fairchild.
The Oberpfaffenhofen-based company presented its completed 30-seat Dornier 328JET regional-jet derivative of the Dornier 328 turboprop to the media for the first time on 6 December. The company says that ground engine runs and taxi trials are due to begin soon after the event, with the first flight scheduled for late January.
A formal roll-out will take place in February. The company has taken ten firm orders and four options from Proteus Air of France and Aspen Mountain Air, while seven more firm orders and 11 options from unannounced customers have also been revealed.
Source: Flight International
