Mitsubishi Heavy Industries cancels project to build Japan’s first passenger aircraft in 60 years
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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced that it is winding down the SpaceJet project, which was supposed to be the first passenger airliner developed in Japan since the 1960s.
The $10 billion project was launched back in 2008 and was of national importance: the last civilian aircraft built in Japan was the NAMC YS-11, launched back in 1962 and decommissioned in 1974. Since then, the needs of Japanese civil aviation have been met exclusively through the purchase of foreign models.
As MHI CEO Seiji Izumisawa explained, the project, which was frozen in the fall of 2020, was ultimately decided to be closed due to a number of problems associated with its development and operation.
“There was a lack of understanding of the certification process for a complex commercial aircraft. There were significant delays in development due to major design changes. Also, there were not enough resources to continue development as an enterprise project for a long period, – quotes Mr. Izumisawa Financial Times.- It is really unfortunate that the development was stopped, despite the support from the government.
At the same time, as the newspaper notes, MHI decided to close the SpaceJet project in order to focus on creating a modern fighter by 2035 together with the UK and Italy. The engineers involved in the development of SpaceJet will be transferred to work on a military aircraft.
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