Diamond Aircraft Industries is an Austrian-based manufacturer of general aviation aircraft and motor gliders, which is currently owned by the Chinese company Wanfeng Aviation. The company is the third-largest manufacturer of aircraft for the general aviation sector and has manufacturing facilities in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria, and in London, Ontario, Canada. Additionally, they operate production lines in other countries through joint ventures.
The company was founded in 1981 by Austrian aircraft designer Wolf Hoffmann under the name Hoffmann Flugzeugbau. Its first aircraft, a motor glider initially known as the HK36 Dimona, was a commercial success, leading to the development of improved models and further types of aircraft. Following several changes in ownership and naming, the company received the name Diamond Aircraft Industries in 1998. At that point, Diamond was producing a range of light aircraft, including the Dimona, the Diamond DA20, and the in-development Diamond DA40.
In 2004, Diamond introduced its first multi-engined aircraft, the Diamond DA42 Twin Star. They also developed a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for aerial surveillance called the Aeronautics Defense Dominator, due to demand from government operators. The company had been developing a single-engined very light jet, the Diamond D-Jet, intended for both private and military customers but the development stopped in 2013 due to the Great Recession.
Currently, the key people behind Diamond Aircraft Industries are Bin Chen (Chairman), Frank Zhang (CEO, Austria division), Scott McFadzean (CEO, Canada division), and Yuan Lu (CEO, China division). The company has over 2,000 employees as of 2009, and they produce light aircraft and simulators. Diamond Aircraft Industries is recognized as one of the top manufacturers of innovative aviation products.