Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation announced that its deal with Aerolease Aviation for the Spacejet has been cancelled and the two sides agreed to “revisit” a possible contract when Mitsubishi restarts development of the regional jet. Aerolease Aviation has been a customer since 2016 when it signed for 10 firm orders and 10 options for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), the predecessor of the Spacejet that Mitsubishi has been developing for years.
With Aerolease’s cancellation, the total number of firm orders for the SpaceJet now stands at 153, the majority of them to Japanese carriers. Mitsubishi Aircraft also has 114 options for the type, according to Cirium fleets data.
“Aerolease has been a long-time customer and a major supporter of the MRJ/SpaceJet program”, said Mitsubishi Aircraft President Takaoki Niwa. “We appreciate all of their support for our programme, our company and the regional jet industry.”
“Aerolease has been a strong advocate of Mitsubishi Aircraft’s efforts to produce a latest generation regional jet with the SpaceJet. It has been a pleasure working with the Mitsubishi Aircraft team over the past five years,” said Jep Thornton, managing partner of Aerolease Aviation. “It is clear to us that the market is in need of such an aircraft and that creates a unique opportunity. Although our agreement with Mitsubishi Aircraft has ended at the end of 2020, we wish the team success in eventually restarting the program as soon as practicable and we remain interested in resuming our relationship with them when that happens.”
Mitsubishi said, “considering the progress of the programme and the market situation, the SpaceJet M90 development activities will be temporarily paused and efforts will be made to improve the business environment for the resumption during this period”.
For Editorial Inquiries Contact:
Editor Matt Driskill at matt.driskill@asianaviation.com
For Advertising Inquiries Contact:
Head of Sales Kay Rolland at kay.rolland@asianaviation.com
