THE JAPAN NEWS

 

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. has started production of a 70-seat test model of its Mitsubishi Regional Jet airplane. This model is smaller than the 90-seat version, for which test flights have already been successfully conducted.

The MRJ is Japan’s first passenger jet. Mitsubishi Aircraft hopes to meet growing demand and increase orders for its small passenger airplanes in the United States — the largest market in the world for this type of airplane — by releasing the 70-seat model, which has fewer competitors than the 90-seat model.

The aircraft maker aims to complete development of the smaller model by the end of 2017.

The test model of the 70-seat type in production is 33.4 meters long — 2.4 meters shorter than the first, 35.8-meter-long MRJ test model. The test flight for the first one was successfully conducted in November last year.

According to sources, Mitsubishi Aircraft is scheduled to start delivering the 70-seat type to airline companies as early as the middle of 2019.
Mitsubishi Aircraft is expediting its development of the 70-seat type MRJ mainly because major U.S. airline companies keep the number of seats in small passenger planes for short-distance flights to no more than about 70. They do this to protect pilots’ jobs.

Embraer, a major aircraft manufacturer in Brazil, successfully conducted test flights in May of a small passenger plane featuring the same type of engine as the MRJ. The number of orders for Embraer’s planes exceeds that for the MRJ.

The fierce competition posed by a rival company is another reason why Mitsubishi Aircraft is rushing to meet its goal.

However, not many companies have pursued the same level of fuel efficiency as Mitsubishi Aircraft has with the 70-seat model. Mitsubishi Aircraft aims to strengthen sales promotions for its planes by adding more variations on the 70-seat model.