Type certificate scheduled for 2018
Nagoya, September 29, 2016: Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced today the successful ferry flight of a MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet) to the United States. Using the First Test Aircraft (FTA-1) of the new regional jet, Mitsubishi Aircraft will intensify flight tests in the U. S. in order to accelerate the development of the MRJ toward type certificate acquisition in 2018.
The aircraft took off from Nagoya Airfield at 1:28 pm on September 26 (JST), and arrived at Grant County International Airport in the U.S. State of Washington at 9:44am on September 29 (JST) (5:44pm on September 28 in local time).
Test flights of the MRJ in the U. S. will be supported by three engineering bases (Moses Lake Flight Test Center, the MRJ flight test center within Grant County International Airport; Seattle Engineering Center and Mitsubishi Aircraft Headquarters in Japan).
Mitsubishi Regional Jet is a family of 70-90-seat next-generation aircraft featuring the Pratt & Whitney’s revolutionary PurePower® engine and state-of-the-art aerodynamics to drastically reduce fuel consumption, noise, and emissions, while offering top-class operational benefits, an outstanding cabin designed for heightened passenger flying comfort with large overhead bins. The MRJ carried out the first flight on November 11, 2015.
With the recent sale of ten MRJ to U.S.-based Aerolease Aviation, 427 MRJ aircraft are on order (233 firm, 170 option and 24 purchase rights). 20 will be added to its order book when Mitsubishi Aircraft signs a definitive agreement with Rockton. The total of 447 MRJ aircraft includes 243 firm orders with 180 options and 24 purchase rights.
Source: Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation