Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has decided to abandon more than a decade’s work on developing a short-haul commercial aircraft, bringing to an end a $10bn national project to elevate Japan’s standing in the global aviation market.
The decision has been taken as the industrial conglomerate embarks on a joint military programme involving the UK, Japan and Italy to build one of the world’s most advanced fighter jets by 2035. MHI chief executive Seiji Izumisawa told a news conference on Tuesday that engineers involved in the “SpaceJet” airliner’s development would be relocated to the fighter jet project.
Investors had been pressuring the company to terminate plans for the short-haul jet, with work already halted since October 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Launched in 2008, the project had struggled long before Covid-19, with repeated delays as a result of MHI’s lack of industry experience and frequent change in leadership.