By Kamal Shah
Turboprops have never really been out of the picture. With the current stress on carbon footprints and sustainability and the acknowledgment that modern props are advanced, technically sophisticated and safe and equally comfortable as jets the future is sunlit. The Deutsche D328eco exemplifies all these factors and promises even more. In this wide-ranging one-on-one with Anastasija Visnakova, Vice President Sales and Marketing at Deutsche Aircraft we get a profound insight into why the D328eco will visibly impact positively on this segment and raise the bar.
For India and its UDAN initiative such an aircraft in the 40-seater category would seem tailor-made for the success of the venture and the regional network to flourish.
1. Turboprops still have a role and an important one at that. The D328ecoTM is a perfect 40-seater option that fits perfectly into short-haul route maps. With India’s UDAN initiative do you see this aircraft as a very viable choice?
Definitely, India is one of the very promising countries in the global arena that we consider to have an immense Turboprop growth potential due to its Higher GDP growth, rapid urbanization rate and significantly rising middle-class population who are now being dispersed across the country (towards Tier 2 & 3 cities) since COVID.
Apparently, this has led to domestic passenger traffic from Tier 2 & 3 cities to grow significantly faster than major metro cities’ airports and increase its share of departure by 50%
This has also nicely fallen in line with the Government’s focus on getting new airports in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities where Turboprops, especially 30–50-seater aircraft such as D328eco with its right size and operational efficiency pose out to be a risk-free option in developing those airports catering to the demand and developing origin-destination (OD) pairs from them.
In fact, the latest version of UDAN 5.0, released in April 2023 also lays in specific emphasis on 20–80-seater aircraft and has also increased the capping distance to 600kms for the VGF (Viability Gap Funding) where D328eco exactly fits in.
Hence, D328eco’s performance and capabilities will suit best to operators especially early startup airlines who will help develop air traffic amongst the smaller tier cities in India which has a lot of tech population dispersed amongst them looking for air connectivity at budget.
2. When you speak of being more environmentally friendly can you elaborate on this aspect?
The D328eco will be 100% SAF and PtL [Power-to-Liquids] compatible. We see SAF and PtL as bridging technologies. PtL can be produced from renewable energy. PtL can replace conventional jet fuel utilising existing infrastructure at airports.The ambition of Deutsche Aircraft is to maximize environmental benefits by flying on 100% PtL with zero aromatics to potentially reduce the climate effects of contrails.
The D328eco will be manufactured at the Final Assembly Line an innovative and climate-friendly CO2 neutral manufacturing environment that will use renewable energy. Therefore, the D328eco is truly environmentally friendly – in the air as well is on the ground.
3. At a time when manufacturers of modern power plants are working so hard on efficiency and cleaner fuel burn you are backing a prop which is understandable seeing your history…have you studied the global market for feasibility? What did you find?
D328eco shall pierce through the perspective that Turboprops are old-tech by offering an aircraft that is modern and advanced in every way possible for the current outlook of the market in terms of technology, operational capabilities and sustainability demands.
First and foremost, Turboprops are proven to be more efficient than jet engines which is especially even more evident for regional aviation given the operational dynamics. Moreover, our aircraft D328eco is powered by the most sophisticated and advanced PW127XT-S engine providing up to 3% improvement in specific fuel consumption and is compatible with 100% SAF, reducing CO2 emissions well-to-wake by up to 95%.”
Apart from that, our aircraft hosts a fully digital cockpit that is 1st for the segment enabling Performance Based Navigation (PBN) and paperless operations. Our cabin and airframe use lightweight composites and upmarket materials that have helped us achieve the lowest ever noise levels competitive with a jet aircraft enhancing passenger experience and leading to an extremely quiet cabin and sky.
The above aspects when combined with its capacity & range offers a huge advantage over the dynamic scale of operations that is typical of regional air travel demands.
Also, Deutsche Aircraft as an organization is not just deploying the latest technology of powerplants available but also exploring and testing powerplants of the future such as H2 run engines with its collaboration with the DLR to test the feasibility and roadmap for deploying these engines while also conducting extensive research and study on PtL and its compatibility as the alternative fuel which has the least impact to the current infrastructural landscape.
Therefore, Deutsche Aircraft is constantly looking to collaborate and develop both alternative fuel and the power plants that shall be the solution to the industry’s call in the near and distant future when the operational feasibility of such advancements sees the ground reality.
4. What would be your production rate per month and would you be able to ramp it up as per demand?
Market research indicates a need to replace 1,400 aircraft and about 1,500 new aircraft across the civil aviation and multi-mission sectors. We plan to capture our market share and are considering the production of 48 aircraft per year.
5. What other markets besides India do you see as probable in their potential?
Deutsche Aircraft has several initiatives and discussions with operators across the globe to support their regional operational needs. To contextually answer the question, we expect a big demand for aircraft of our size in the Southeastern Archipelagos, Japan in the APAC region to cater to their increasing travel (tourists, leisure and business-related) and cargo demand, especially around tier 2 & 3 cities. Apart from catering to the growth potential, there is also immense scope for replacement potential in the Oceania region where there is already a well-established Sub 50-seater travel in regional segments with ~200 aircraft old enough to be replaced in the coming years and D328eco shall be the best candidate with its right size, new & advanced engines, modern and feature-rich cabin, exceptional operational performance and efficiency.
6. Against other Turboprops in the competitive scene how do you position the D328eco.
The fleets comprising of sub-50-seater Turboprops are aging globally. Most of the aircraft currently are used for regional passenger flights. The D328eco is the perfect tool to increase profits by replacing old aircraft. Here we do see a strong demand, but also additional demand in growing markets like the APAC region. The D328eco can be configured to any purpose from commercial passenger aircraft to multi-role operations. The cabin of the D328eco is versatile to serve any purpose so business aviation is also at the core of what our product can offer. There are the multi-role variants of the D328eco which can be configured from cargo carrier to search and rescue. The D328eco can also serve as a VIP/Corporate Business aircraft. The eco platform’s versatile capabilities is ready for any mission.
7. Lastly, what is the fuel consumption rate for the D328eco as compared to others in its class?
Our initial tests and calculations have resulted that the D328eco with the PW127XT-s engine consumes at least 20% less fuel at cruise when compared to other turboprop aircraft in production and in-service.
However, the economic operations of an aircraft are not just the performance characteristics of the engine but is also heavily impacted by the operational profile of the aircraft as such and herein, the D328eco’s characteristics will make the overall fuel consumption and operational economics even better because, we can fly higher, up to 30,000 ft and can:
- Climb 25% faster
- Fly 20% faster– closer to the speed of a jet, when compared with other turboprops in the market. All these factors combined shall make the D328eco an even better proposition.