Japan's First Jet Airliner Fails... Mitsubishi Ultimately Withdraws from Project

Invested 9.5 Trillion Won and Developed for 15 Years... Judged Lacking Business Feasibility

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The first Japanese jet passenger plane, whose launch has been delayed several times, is expected never to take off as its development has been discontinued.

According to local media including Kyodo News on the 6th, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has decided to completely halt the development of Japan's first small jet passenger plane, the 'Space Jet' (formerly MRJ).

Previously, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries began the development project of a 90-seat small jet passenger plane in 2008. After receiving orders for about 300 units from domestic and international airlines such as All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL), they invested a total of 1 trillion yen (approximately 9.5216 trillion KRW) for development.

However, frequent design changes and production issues caused repeated delays in delivery. In 2020, the development project was suspended due to a decrease in air travel demand caused by COVID-19. Subsequently, the company gradually scaled down the project, including closing the flight test site in the United States.

The Yomiuri Shimbun explained, "Mitsubishi has been developing the jet passenger plane for 15 years, but it appears they have concluded that the business viability is poor."

Japanese MRJ aircraft. Photo by Bloomberg