Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is poised to introduce the first India-made commercial plane, its 19-seater Hindustan 228 aircraft, in the market that is expected to give a big push to short route UDAN flights scheme aimed at ensuring greater regional connectivity.  

The use of Hindustan 228 for commercial flights would give a fillip to the government's Make in India programme as currently all commercial planes flying in the country are imported.

Speaking to ANI, Apurba Roy, General Manager, HAL said, “Hindustan 228, The design has been transferred to us from Dornier GmbH. This particular aircraft is under type certification and will have it in the name of Hindustan 228. All the testing parameters have been completed.

Roy said that state governments as well as private companies had shown a lot of interest to deploy the plan in the UDAN scheme.

The plane is being rolled out from HAL’s assembly line in Kanpur. Roy said HAL is making six more such aircraft. The engine of the aircraft is not made in India.

The Hindustan 228 is adapted from the 19-seater Dornier 228 aircraft that is manufactured by HAL under licence from Swiss technology company RUAG for the defence forces and European markets.

HAL had first carried out successful trial flights of Dornier in order to press them into commercial use.

The civil aviation ministry has said the government wants to expedite the manufacturing of civilian aircraft in the country.

The country's domestic aviation market is one of the fastest growing in the world and has registered high double-digit growth for more than two years.

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