The government, which has already begun the design process for a domestic fighter aircraft, is also taking a historical step to manufacture the country's first domestic airliner. The planned domestic airplane, which Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has previously mentioned, are planned to be used for regional flights. According to the information obtained by the Daily Sabah Ankara bureau, Davutoğlu was expected to announce the specifications, design properties, capacities and the manufacturer of the airplanes to the public late Tuesday after Daily Sabah went to press. Recently, it was announced that Fatih and Eren Özmen, the U.S.-based owners of the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), will also be the manufacturers of the domestic airplanes and that they have also purchased the production rights to the German Dornier 328 airplane. However, whether SNC will also manufacture the domestic airplanes is not yet certain. If an agreement is reached with the SNC, though, the airplanes to be produced will also be Dornier 328-type aircraft.
General Manager of the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ) Serdar Hüseyin Yıldırım had previously announced regional airplanes might also be prop planes and underscored that while there is a common dislike and distrust of prop planes, they are safer as they fly at lower speeds. This announcement also increased the possibility that the domestic airplanes will be Dornier 328s.
