Aeronautics, Space and Defence

April 2005

Mitsubishi Heavy to Develop Japan's 1st Passenger Jet By Fiscal Year 2008
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plans to embark on the commercialization of the first Japanese-made passenger jet aircraft within this fiscal year, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned Monday. The firm plans to develop a regional jet that can seat 70-90 passengers, and aims to conduct its maiden flight in fiscal 2008. The Mitsubishi group company is the key player in a project in which the government and private sector are splitting the 50 billion yen bill for co-developing a passenger jet. This five-year project, launched in fiscal 2003, has conducted research with the participation of other firms, such as Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. Although the project initially envisioned a small craft that seats 30-50, Mitsubishi Heavy judged that there would be little demand for such a plane from major domestic airlines, so it plans to widen the aircraft so that it can accommodate four seats per row instead of three, bringing the total number of seats to 70-90. The firm on Monday notified the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of its plan to start developing conceptual designs -- a step before development -- for a 50-seat plane with four seats per row. When it commercializes the aircraft, the company intends to introduce a model that can seat 70-90 passengers, the optimal number for a plane with four seats in each row. In development, Mitsubishi Heavy intends to use technologies that it has picked up through the public-private joint research project, such as ways to reduce drag to improve fuel efficiency, as well as its design technology for analyzing the structure of airframes. The firm also plans to apply technology for creating light, strong composites that it acquired through joint development with Boeing Co. on the U.S. company's 777 and 787 aircraft. The B787 is slated to debut in 2008. Mitsubishi Heavy expects increased use of regional jets for flights between Tokyo and smaller cities, as well as other parts in Asia, when Tokyo's Haneda airport is expanded with a new runway in 2009. According to Japan Aircraft Development Corp., there will be new worldwide demand for more than 3,000 jets that seat 60-99 through 2023, and the number of such planes in operation is expected to jump fivefold from the 2003 level. Mitsubishi Heavy sees as its main customer the low-cost North American airlines, which have been faring well by frequently flying the same aircraft on intercity routes. The firm needs to market the plane globally if it is to invest huge sums on development, and establishing a service structure for maintaining the planes is also essential. And because of the stiff international competition in the market for planes of this size, it is unclear if the company will be able to secure a profit.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, April 12, 2005)

Mitsubishi Heavy Suspends Civilian Helicopter Business
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. has stopped taking orders for its independently produced civilian helicopters and plans to focus on units for the Defense Agency and international joint development projects. The first helicopter designed and manufactured entirely in Japan received government approval in 1997, and it was marketed to private businesses in addition to firefighting and disaster response operations. Using the engine created for Defense Agency helicopters, the 10-seat civilian version sold for 400 million yen, less than comparable models produced by other firms. But the project was derailed when a test model crashed in 2000, and sales of the medium-sized craft have not grown as market demand has shifted toward smaller units. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, April 05, 2005)