Japan Rolls Out ‘Long-Held Dream’ With First Commercial Jet in 50 Years
To the sound of drums and a children’s choir, Mitsubishi Aircraft on Saturday rolled out Japan’s first commercial jet in half a century, amid doubts it can attain an ambition to sell more than 2,000 aircraft in a competitive market segment.
Developed by a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that includes Toyota Corp as a shareholder, the $42-million regional jet, with just under 100 seats, is Japan’s second bid to break into the commercial aircraft market.
“This has been a long-held dream of ours, and one that all of Japan has waited for,” Hideaki Omiya, chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy, said at a factory in Nagoya in central Japan, which was also the site of the roll-out, 75 years ago, of the prototype of the World War Two-era Zero fighter plane.
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