Mitsubishi Regional Jet

The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) is a passenger jet aircraft seating 70–90 passengers manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, a partnership between majority owner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toyota Motor Corporation^[4] with design assistance from Toyota affiliate Fuji Heavy Industries, already a manufacturer of aircraft. The project is in early manufacturing as of September 30, 2010^[5] with its maiden flight scheduled for 2015. It will be the first airliner designed and produced in Japan since the NAMC YS-11 of the 1960s.

Design and development

The MRJ will be the launch platform for Pratt & Whitney's PW1000G Geared Turbofan engine.^[6] The aircraft was initially expected to be the first regional jet aircraft to adopt carbon fiber composite materials for its airframe on a significant scale.^[7] However, in a design turn-around in September, 2009, Mitsubishi announced that it would use aluminium for its wing box instead of composite material.^[8] Carbon composite parts will now make up only 10-15% of the aircraft, mostly around the tail section. This change brought increase in the cabin height by 1.5in (3.8 cm) to 80.5in (204 cm) and fuselage height increase to 116.5in (296 cm). This gave the MRJ a rounder cabin, which is wider and higher than its competing aircraft manufactured by Bombardier and Embraer.^[9]

A cabin mockup and a scale model were presented at the 47th Paris Air Show in June 2007.^[7] The company has decided to formally offer the aircraft for sale to potential customers.^[10] Production is planned to begin in 2012.^[11] The first flight was scheduled after the design was finalized to take place in the second quarter of 2012, but was delayed to 2013,^[12] and then further delayed to spring 2014 due to delays in the procurement of engines.^[13] Likewise the first delivery was planned to take place in the first quarter of 2014,^[14] but was delayed to mid to late 2016.^[13]

In August 2013, Mitsubishi announced a third major delay to the program, and that the first flight would take place by summer 2015 while the first delivery would take place by summer 2017. Delays in the procurement of the Pratt & Whitney engines and other components were cited as the cause of this delay.^[15]

In September 2013, after announcing the third delay to the MRJ program, Mitsubishi publicly displayed a prototype MRJ fuselage, including cockpit enclosure, and announced that it would hire foreign pilots and technicians to serve as consultants as the program progressed to safety testing and regulatory approvals.^[16]

All Nippon Airways is the first customer, with an order for 15 MRJ 90s and an option for 10 more.^[17]

On 15 September 2010, the Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation announced that it had entered the production drawing phase and continues to proceed with the manufacturing process.^[18] Assembly of the first aircraft began in April 2011 with construction of the emergency escape for the cockpit.^[19]

A new production facility for the aircraft will be built at Komaki Airport in Nagoya, Japan, on land purchased from the government at a total cost of 60 billion yen. Production at this plant is expected to commence in fiscal year 2016, with the new plant producing 10 aircraft per month and employing 2,000 workers.^[20] Mitsubishi announced in June 2013 that it would establish a quality control facility in Illinois for the sourcing of MRJ components from the United States.^[21]

Variants

Four versions are planned using two different fuselage lengths. The MRJ70 will have a passenger capacity of 70-80 and the MRJ90 will have a passenger capacity of 86-96.

In March 2008, and again in October 2008, Sankei Shimbun and Fuji Sankei Business I reported that the government of Japan would buy ten MRJs to serve as short-haul and small-field VIP transports, supplementing the existing Japanese Air Force One Boeing 747 aircraft.^[22] The government was still considering this option as of July 2013, with MRJs possibly supplementing new Boeing 777 long-haul VIP transports, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.^[23]

At the Farnborough International Airshow July 2012, SkyWest agreed to buy 100 MRJ90's, to be delivered between 2017 and 2020. The deal is worth $4.2bn at list prices.

During the 2013 Regional Airlines Association conference, held in Montreal, Canada, Mitsubishi announced that ANI Group Holdings, which firmed a MoU for 5 MRJ aircraft in June 2011, cancelled the deal, without giving further details.^[24]

Orders

MRJ and its specifications

Gallery

Specifications

Sources: MRJ^[31]

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Antonov An-148
• Bombardier CRJ700 series
• Bombardier CSeries
• Comac ARJ21
• Embraer E-Jets/E-Jets E2
• Sukhoi Superjet 100

Related lists

• List of civil aircraft

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mitsubishi Regional Jet.

• Mitsubishi Regional Jet on the Mitsubishi site

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