The small made-in-India aircraft Dornier hopes to become UDAN's wings

A small aircraft harbours big ambitions of making the government’s UDAN dream soar. The twin-engine, 17-seater, made-in-India Dornier 228, which has for years been a trusted ride of soldiers, bringing them home from remote locations where airstrips are small or semi-prepared, has been on commercial jaunts in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam for Alliance Air since April.

It’s a first for a made-in-India aircraft to fly commercial. So far, the Dornier 228 (Do-228) was being manufactured under licence from Swiss aerospace engineering and defence company RUAG, with Hin­dustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) supplying the fuselage, wings and tail unit from its facility