The first Japanese-built passenger jet in forty years was launched over the weekend at an official ceremony in Komaki, near Nagoya. The manufacturer, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, intends to take advantage of the boom in regional civilian flights and compete with industry giants such as Embraer and Bombardier.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a military contractor famous in history for building the "Zero" fighter used by kamikazes during World War II, showed the public its "Mitsubishi Regional Jet" or MRJ model, a 70- and 90-seat aircraft fuel economy that offers passengers comfort at lower operating costs. The jet, which will be delivered to customers starting in 2017, was built with assistance from aviation giant Boeing.
“The dream of a Japanese product that can be proudly presented to the world with extreme efficiency and great passenger comfort has finally come true,” said Mitsubishi Heavy Industries President Hideaki Omiya.
The aircraft marks a new chapter in Japanese aviation history: the last commercial model, the YS-11, was built in 1962 and production ended ten years later. Japanese companies were prohibited from developing new aircraft designs at the end of World War II by the American occupation forces. The country slowly began to rebuild the industry in the XNUMXs, first supplying repairs to the US Air Force and then building military models for Japan under US license. Japanese industry has long supplied parts for Boeing.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has won 375 orders from airlines including All Nippon Airways (ANA), US-based Trans States Holdings and SkyWest. Japan Airlines (JAL) has signed a letter of intent to purchase 32 MRJs, at a cost of 4,2 billion yen per aircraft to be used for domestic flights.
