Diamond Aircraft CEO Christian Dries is focusing “more on strategy and specific programs,” following the appointment of Gerd Berchtold as CEO of the company’s Austria-based production and engineering division. Berchtold is responsible for design, production and customer support and reports to Dries, who is the shareholder of Diamond Aircraft. Diamond has diversified into design and manufacturing of primary structural components for transport-category aircraft and adapting the twin-engine DA42 as a UAV. Dries explained, “We are also continuing to focus a large part of our efforts on emerging and high-growth markets, including Russia and China. With the traditional retail markets having shrunk over the last several years, we want to continue to shift more of our attention to aircraft that have commercial applications, such as the flight training and aerial sensor markets.”

Dries made no mention of the single-engine D-Jet program, which is supposed to achieve certification late this year. According to a Diamond spokesman, “As for the program itself, it continues towards certification, and we have no new details to release at this time.”