The Diamond DA62 is a five- to seven-seat, twin-engine

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...

produced by

Diamond Aircraft Industries Diamond Aircraft Industries is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft and motor gliders, based in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria, Austria. It has been a subsidiary of the Chinese company Wanfeng Aviation since 2017. It is the third lar ...

and first announced in March 2012. Initially designated as the DA52, the first prototype flew on in April 2012 after six months of development. In June 2014 the production aircraft was redesignated as the DA62.

European Aviation Safety Agency The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Commission with responsibility for civil aviation safety in the European Union. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs inve ...

(EASA) certification was granted in April 2015 and American

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

(FAA) certification was granted in February 2016. Said to offer "twin power with single-engine simplicity" there have been 273 deliveries of the aircraft through early 2024.Julie Boatman.
We Fly: Diamond DA62
. ''

Flying Flying may refer to: * Flight, the process of flying * Aviation, the creation and operation of aircraft Music Albums * '' Flying (Cody Fry album)'', 2017 * ''Flying'' (Grammatrain album), 1997 * ''Flying'' (Jonathan Fagerlund album), 2008 * ...

'' magazine, April 3, 2024. Accessed May 23, 2025. The

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

, certified pilot

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (; ; born 11November 1955) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022, leading the CDU/CSU ...

, is known to own and fly a DA62.

Design and development

The DA62 development team is headed by Diamond managing director Manfred Zipper. It is based upon the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

of the single-engine

Diamond DA50 The Diamond DA50 is a five seat, single-engine, composite aircraft designed and built by Diamond Aircraft Industries. First shown in 2006, it made its maiden flight on 4 April 2007. The project has been proposed to be powered by several differe ...

, but with two Austro AE330 Diesel engines burning

Jet A Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial ...

fuel. Company CEO Christian Dries indicated that the engines may be replaced with

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

s. In flying the prototype from Diamond's

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

plant to the 2012

AERO Friedrichshafen AERO Friedrichshafen is a trade show dedicated to European general aviation. It is held yearly in April on the shores of Lake Constance at the exhibition center of Friedrichshafen, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Ger ...

aviation trade show, the aircraft achieved 16.6 mpg (14.2 litres/100 km)

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical energy, chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or Mechanical work, w ...

, the result of improvements in cooling drag and aerodynamic drag made during its development. The company originally intended to have the aircraft available for sale in July 2013 and expected to offer

fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional aircraft flight control system#Hydro-mechanical, manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic sig ...

controls as an option by 2014, but development was delayed and those dates were not met. The DA62 was

(EASA)-certified on 16 April 2015. By September 2015, the company was preparing to deliver the first production DA62s to customers the following month and was manufacturing the first aircraft destined for the United States market—the tenth DA52/DA62 to be built and the third production aircraft—for an appearance at that year's

National Business Aviation Association The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is a professional association and lobbying group for private business aviation. Overview NBAA is set up as a 501(c)(6) non-profit entity. NBAA organizes conferences and seminars. Edward M. ...

Convention in November. American

(FAA) certification was received on 23 February 2016. The FAA certification came ten months after EASA certification. At the 2016 AERO Friedrichshafen show, Diamond's CEO Christian Dries reported that production would be increased to 60–62 aircraft per year to meet strong demand. The aircraft is available in two weight versions. The "European" version has five seats and a

maximum takeoff weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft, also known as the maximum structural takeoff weight or maximum structural takeoff mass, is the maximum weight at which the p ...

(MTOW) of , the "US" version has seven seats and a MTOW of . The lower MTOW of the "European" version is to allow operators to avoid higher weight-based

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

user charges. The third row of seating and increased MTOW of the "US" version are available as factory options at extra cost. At the 2016 AERO Friedrichshafen, Christian Dries said a special version with an additional baggage belly pod was under consideration for the

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

market. In January 2023, it was announced that Aeromot will assemble DA62s in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

from kits supplied by Diamond Aircraft Canada, starting in 2025. The intention is to ramp-up production to 50 aircraft per year. The completed aircraft will be sold primarily in the South American market. By April 2019 more than 120 DA62s had been delivered. 273 had been delivered by April 2024. DA62 aircraft are built in both Austria and Canada.

Operational history

Notable owners include the

, who, controversially flew to the wedding of

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

Christian Lindner Christian Wolfgang Lindner (; born 7 January 1979) is a German former politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who was the Federal Minister of Finance from 2021 until his dismissal in 2024 during the 2024 German government crisis. Servi ...

in July 2022, asserting that the DA62 consumed less fuel than official limousines. Media

fact checking A fact is a true datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by experiments or other means. For e ...

conceded that the total consumption is lower, if the lower speed and detours—unavoidable for cars bound to roads—are factored into the comparison. On October 6, 2023, the

Nigerian Air Force The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is the air branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the youngest branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces, established four years after the nation became independent. As at 2021, the air force is one of the largest in A ...

acquired four DA 62 MPPs, registered in Nigeria as NAF260/261/262/263. In July 2024, a contract was signed for the sale of three DA62 MPPs for €23.3 million. They were bought by

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

for the

Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

^(el), to serve as air operations centers for

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

and SAR, as well for

aerial surveillance Surveillance aircraft are aircraft used for surveillance. They are primarily operated by military forces and government agencies in roles including intelligence gathering, maritime patrol, battlefield and airspace surveillance, observation (e.g ...

. The delivery is set to be completed by the third quarter of 2025.

Variants

;DA52 :Prototype, two built. ;DA62 :Five–seven seat production variant with an extra third window and larger horizontal stabilizer. ;DA62 MPP :"Multi-Purpose Platform" variant intended for law enforcement,

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

, and surveillance operations.

Specifications (DA62)

References

External links

*
Official company first flight video

AVWeb video about DA52 development shot at Aero 2012

AVWeb video about the DA52 from May 2013

AVWeb video about the DA62 from NBAA in November 2015

We Fly: Diamond DA62
(Pilot Report) {{Diamond Aircraft 2010s Austrian civil utility aircraft DA52 Low-wing aircraft T-tail aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2012 Diesel-engined aircraft Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear