Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Asia's biggest aerospace company, will exhibit a model of its new passenger jet at the Paris Air Show next week, using the event to woo global airlines seeking fuel-efficient planes.
The Tokyo-based company will show off a full-sized mock-up of the aircraft's cabin, it said yesterday at a press conference.
About 30 percent of the 70 to 90-seat plane, known as the "Mitsubishi Regional Jet," (MRJ) will be made of lightweight carbon-fiber composites, making it 20 percent more fuel efficient than planes of similar size.
PHOTO: AP
"We'd like to promote the program as a milestone for the development of Japan's aviation industry," MRJ project manager Junichi Miyakawa said.
The company will decide by the end of next March whether to put the aircraft into commercial production, making it Japan's first domestically built passenger jet. The MRJ would compete with planes built by Bombardier Inc of Canada and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, or Embraer, of Brazil, which make commercial planes that seat fewer than 100 passengers.
Mitsubishi Heavy was the first outside supplier for Boeing Co's commercial jet-wing assemblies, and it will use similar carbon-fiber composites in building the MRJ.
General Electric Co, Rolls-Royce Group PLC and United Technologies Corp's Pratt and Whitney unit, have all bid to make the plane's engines, Mitsubishi Heavy said. The company plans to choose an engine supplier by the fall, when it starts soliciting orders from airlines, said Masakazu Niwa, general manager of Mitsubishi Heavy's aerospace division.
Mitsubishi Heavy has promoted the plane to as many as 30 airlines and received "attractive" feedback, Niwa said.
Development of the aircraft is backed by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Niwa wouldn't elaborate on the development costs, the degree of government support or the orders necessary to justify building the planes.
Global demand for planes seating fewer than 100 passengers will probably reach 5,000 through 2026, as airlines replace older aircraft with more efficient models, Niwa said, citing company estimates.
Mitsubishi Heavy and two other Japanese manufacturers, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, supply wings and fuselage parts for Boeing's 787 long-range widebody aircraft, scheduled to enter commercial service in the middle of next year. The three companies build 35 percent of the parts for 787s under the biggest subcontracting project in Boeing's history.
Japanese manufacturers are signing more contracts with planemakers, including Chicago-based Boeing, benefiting from rising demand for air transportation. The nation hasn't built its own commercial plane since the YS11, a propeller-powered plane that first flew in 1962.
Mitsubishi Heavy's stock has gained 62 percent in the past 12 months. The shares fell ?4, or 0.5 percent, to ?755 yesterday.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS