Press Release
Issued by Diamond Aircraft Industries.
March 22, 2018
At the end of 2017 Wanfeng Aviation Industry Co., Ltd. acquired Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH (DAI Austria), Diamond Aircraft Inc. (DAI Canada) and Austro Engine GmbH (AE). The new owner Wanfeng has now introduced its future group strategy with a focus on continued growth and DAI Austria as global headquarters, where it will continue to develop new technologies and aircraft models, including the DART civil turboprop aerobatic trainer and the DA50 models, for the global general aviation market.
Christian Dries, former CEO of Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH, who founded the company more than 25 years ago and turned 60 last year decided to sell the entire company as he had no relative interested in taking over. “Diamond is my life's work," he revealed." In the interest of a successful long term future, we needed to find the right partner to continue our good work. Wanfeng and specifically Mr. Bin Chen share my vision of the future of general aviation and are investing for the right reasons, with a long term strategy and the resources to see their vision through. I look forward to seeing Diamond develop further and based on our successful year long partnership in Diamond Canada, I am fully satisfied that I leave Diamond in very good hands.”
With more than 600 employees, DAI Austria has been located at the Wiener Neustadt East airfield since 1987. The new owner has established the company as global headquarters for the whole Diamond Group, meaning that it will take the global lead in the fields of research and development, production, sales and marketing as well as aftersales with a focus on R&D and customer satisfaction. The same applies to Austro Engine GmbH.
Mr. Bin Chen, chairman of Wanfeng Aviation Industry and president of the Wanfeng Auto Holding Group commented "Wanfeng is a global company that further grows companies all over the world. When we acquired 60% of Diamond Aircraft Canada's shares in December 2016, Diamond Canada hired about 100 new employees in the year thereafter. I set a clear goal that Diamond Aircraft is going to be the leading company in aviation. To reach this target I have appointed Diamond Aircraft Austria as the global headquarters of the whole group. Therefore, the Austrian site will be further strengthened by recruiting more people especially for research and development, sales and marketing, production as well as aftersales. We will also bring new opportunities to the local economy and community like we did in Canada.”
Under the new management structure for DAI Austria Mr. Bin Chen will assume the position of chairman of Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH and Mr. Liqun Zhang will assume the position of chief executive officer. Mr. Christian Dries will maintain an advisory function to help guiding the new ownership and ensure the continued development of Diamond Aircraft Group.
Under the new management structure for DAI Canada Mr. Peter Maurer is retiring as CEO of Diamond's Canadian operations to support Diamond Aircraft in a senior global strategy and business development role. Mr. Scott McFadzean has been promoted from chief operations officer to chief executive officer while Mr. Kevin Sheng has been appointed chief operations officer, reporting to the CEO.
The DART civil turboprop aerobatic trainer and the DA50 models will continue to be developed at the headquarters DAI Austria. Projects announced by the former management such as the helicopter DART-280 and a tiltrotor concept are currently under evaluation. Further information will be announced at a later stage.
