RuAviation

In 2023, the Japanese industrial group finally buried the Spacejet aircraft. The project was closed, the aircraft was written off, the company was renamed, but a huge debt of €3.7 billion remained.

The first and last prototype Mitsubishi Spacejet was dismantled in the US in March 2023 (pictured) – a tragic symbol of the total collapse of the Japanese regional jet. Constant delays, technical difficulties and skyrocketing costs led those in charge to terminate the programme in February 2023.

Just a month later, the company’s name was also history: last April, Mitsubishi Aircraft became MSJ Asset Management. Now the parent company, tech giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, also wants to do away with the chapter for good. On 31 March it decided to dissolve the company, and on 4 July a special liquidation petition was filed in the Tokyo District Court.

But the problem is that debts remain. According to Japanese aviation portal Aviation Wire, MSJ Asset Management’s debt load stands at 641.3 billion yen, which is about 3.7 billion euros, almost two-thirds of the total 1 trillion yen outlay on what was once an ambitious project.

Where the money to repay the debt is supposed to come from is unclear. Mitsubishi simply said the situation was being “handled.” One of the biggest creditors is the Japanese state, whose experience with Spacejet has not dampened its desire to have its own regional jet, quite the opposite. In March this year, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) conceptualised a future new Japanese passenger aircraft to be developed by 2035 or later.

Japan has learnt from its mistakes and now seeks to secure the next generation of Japanese aviation technology. Having suffered a fiasco with the ill-fated Mitsubishi Spacejet, Meti is enlisting the help of several companies and industry groups. According to the Nikkei, total private and public investment in the next-generation aircraft could be around $33bn.

It is planned to study the possibility of equipping the aircraft with hydrogen-powered engines. In this regard, the project may involve car manufacturers that have experience with hydrogen engines.