DRA (Deutsche Regional Aircraft) and sister company 328 Support Services GmbH have strengthened their technology team with the appointment of Martin Nüsseler as CTO (chief technology officer). Nüsseler joins after 17 years with Airbus, the last five of which were heading up Airbus’s alternative propulsion systems and technologies unit.
Nüsseler, who also worked for Fairchild Dornier in the late 1990s, will be responsible for product strategy, technology road maps and oversight of the engineering development teams.
The engineering development team’s primary focus is enhancing the D328 platform and delivering its future technology roadmap. The technical mission for the aircraft is to make aviation more sustainable, particularly in short-range regional air transportation. The new D328eco model is designed to deliver improvements in operational and maintenance costs, as well as reductions in overall carbon footprint.
The D328eco programme, currently in the PDR phase, is focused on the trades and maturity of new systems and materials required to support the aircraft specification. Entry into service is planned for 2024.
The Regional Aircraft programme continues to be led out of Oberpfaffenhofen airport near Munich and planning work has commenced on the establishment of the final assembly line at Leipzig Halle Airport.
