Diamond Aircraft acquired by Wanfeng Aviation
Austria’s Diamond Aircraft Industries has been acquired by China’s Wanfeng Aviation Industry Co. Ltd.
The acquisition, which also includes the company’s Austro Engine division, comes a year after the Wanfeng…
Austria’s Diamond Aircraft Industries has been acquired by China’s Wanfeng Aviation Industry Co. Ltd.
The acquisition, which also includes the company’s Austro Engine division, comes a year after the Wanfeng Auto Holding subsidiary bought a 60% stake in the Canadian operation, and is intended to assure the brand’s “continued long-term future”, a statement from Diamond Aircraft said.
‘Life’s work’
“Diamond is my life’s work. In the interest of a successful long term future, we needed to find the right partner to continue our good work.”
By Christian Dries, former CEO of Diamond Aircraft
Dries added: “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.”
Mr. Bin Chen, Chairman of Wanfeng Aviation Industry and President of the Wanfeng Auto Holding Group, said: “We were attracted to Diamond’s leadership position in the market. Under the 25-year leadership of founder Mr. Christian Dries, the Diamond team has developed a broad range of superb aircraft that have gained worldwide respect for their performance, efficiency, safety and innovation. Based on this excellent foundation, we intend to take Diamond to a long-term leadership position in worldwide general aviation.”
In 2017, we had the opportunity to do a number of interviews with Christian Dries. You can replay them here:
