Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the parent of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., has made official a further two-year delay in the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) program.
MHI said Jan. 23 that the first delivery of the MRJ90 to Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) would be pushed back to mid-2020 from mid-2018, meaning first delivery will be nearly seven years later than what was planned in the program’s original timetable. Four MRJ90 flight test aircraft are currently flying, with a fifth slated to join flight testing this year, but the MRJ program—Japan’s reentry into commercial aircraft manufacturing for the first time since production on the NAMC YS-11 turboprop ended in 1974—has been beset by numerous delays over the years.
The latest delay is necessary because of “revisions to certain systems and electrical configurations on the aircraft to meet the latest requirements for certification,” MHI said in a Jan. 23 presentation to media, adding, “These design changes will not affect aircraft performance, fuel consumption or functionality of systems.”
MRJ90 certification is now targeted for the second half of 2019. MHI said Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. will “expand [the] involvement of global experts” in the MRJ program, adding that the company aims to achieve “world-class commercial aircraft development through integrated work between global and Japanese experts.”
Aaron Karp aaron.karp@penton.com
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