Mitsubishi Aircraft announced on Thursday that the SpaceJet regional jet program will delay again. Now, the manufacturer’s forecast is that the first aircraft will be delivered to All Nippon Airways, the launch customer of the M90 variant, after March 2021
This is the sixth delay in the aircraft schedule that was originally supposed to enter service in 2013. Before the announcement, it was estimated that ANA would start operating the aircraft this year, but the SpaceJet M90 has not yet been certified.
In addition to the delay, Mitsubishi announced a huge loss of $ 4.5 billion and will need new funds to continue the program. “We use cashflow and borrowing to finance our projects and going forward the SpaceJet development will require further funds,” a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy said.
In 2019, the company made important changes to the project, canceling the MRJ70 version that was replaced by the M100, designed to meet the requirements of U.S. regional airlines. It is estimated that SpaceJet currently has about 390 orders including purchase options.
