Hopes of reviving the Dornier 328Jet production line have been kept alive after an order for two of the 33-seat regional jets from AvCraft Aerospace. The move follows the reported arrest in Germany of US entrepreneur Ben Bartel, head of AvCraft Aviation, which took over the Dornier 328 programme after the bankruptcy of Fairchild Dornier in 2002, on suspicion of tax evasion.
AvCraft Aerospace administrator Pluta Rechtsanwalts says the liquidity of the company is now assured through to January next year, following the sale of one aircraft to Danish carrier Sun-Air and one to Berlin-based Private Wings. With these latest contracts, three of the four aircraft originally ordered by China’s Hainan Airlines have been sold, allowing work to continue at the Oberpfaffenhofen site near Munich until next year.
Meanwhile, German news weekly Focus reports that Bartel was arrested at Frankfurt Main airport late last month after German police began an investigation into a 7 million ($8.5 million) payment made to an unnamed Cayman Islands-registered company. It is unclear whether the payment is connected to the March insolvency of AvCraft Aerospace.
AvCraft Aerospace says that Bartel has had no involvement with and has not communicated with the German division since the company filed for insolvency. AvCraft Aerospace managing director Wolfgang Walter is “working closely with the administrator” and “together, they are in dialogue with potential investors to take over the Dornier 328Jet line at Oberphaffenhofen as a viable concern”, the company says.
Source: Flight International
