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Bloomberg
The SpaceJet is not going to take you to the moon or Mars, but it can get you to a smaller city on earth without having to switch flights in Atlanta, Dubai or another big airport hub.
The newly renamed regional jet by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is being showcased at the Paris Air Show next week, along with a new model that can seat 76 passengers.
The Japanese manufacturer is using the industry gathering to go on a marketing blitz after the airplane suffered multiple delays and setbacks.
The SpaceJet is the first airliner built in Japan since the 1960s. Mitsubishi Heavy, a longtime supplier to Boeing Co., is betting the timing is ripe for a new regional plane as more cities across the globe seek to link up with each other. The duopoly of Bombardier Inc. and Embraer SA, which has long dominated the market for regional commercial jets, is looking at other segments.
“The reaction has been very positive,†said Alex Bellamy, the SpaceJet’s chief development officer at Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., the company’s airliner segment.
The SpaceJet program and details of the new plane will be previewed at the airshow at Le Bourget, just outside the French capital.
The second 76-passenger jet will be called the SpaceJet 100, or the M100, with deliveries scheduled to begin as early as 2023, Bellamy said.
Mitsubishi Heavy is negotiating with a number of different customers for the jet, Bellamy said in an interview.