328 Support Services (Oberpfaffenhofen) has been taken over by US-based electronic systems provider, SNC - Sierra Nevada (Reno/Tahoe), as the latter continues to expand its modern commercial aircraft technologies portfolio. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
Though headquartered in London, 328's main operations are based at the old Dornier field at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport, near Munich, Germany, where it offers maintenance for the world's fleet of two-hundred operational Do328-100s and Do328-300s.
328 acquired the Do328 (jet and turboprop) and Do428 type certificates as well as the intellectual property (IP) rights for their design, manufacturing, maintenance and certification, from Avcraft in 2005, which had in turn acquired it from the now defunct Fairchild Dornier (Oberpfaffenhofen) in 2003.
As such, the acquisition of 328 is the next logical step for Sierra Nevada, which owns the IP rights and supplemental type certificates (STCs) for the technologies that allow the Dornier 328 aircraft to be used by the U.S. for multi-mission applications ranging from transport and cargo to surveillance and medical use.
“After many years with a close and successful working relationship, this move makes sense at many levels,” Dave Jackson, 328's managing director, said. “328’s expert design, completion and type certification skills are a perfect complement to SNC’s portfolio of capabilities and we look forward to expanding further under the SNC umbrella.”
With the purchase now complete, SNC anticipates a close working relationship between 328 and its subsidiary, Kansas-based 3S Engineering, in the areas of design and type certification.
