ATW Daily News

Mitsubishi breaks through outside Japan with Trans States MRJ order

Monday October 5, 2009

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. said Friday that it has signed a letter of intent with Trans States Holdings, parent of US regional carriers Trans States Airlines and GoJet Airlines, covering a firm order for 50 MRJs plus 50 options.

The deal marks a breakthrough for Mitsubishi, which is trying to sell its regional jet, set to enter service in 2013, to the global marketplace. Its only previous order was from launch customer ANA for 15 firm plus 10 options. The company announced the final configuration for the MRJ last month (ATWOnline, Sept. 10). It did not announce a delivery schedule or whether Trans States would be taking the 78-seat MRJ70 or the 92-seat MRJ90.

"We believe that the MRJ is a game-changing regional jet that takes into account the environment, as well as passenger and airline needs," Trans States President Richard Leach said in a statement. "The MRJ will reduce fuel consumption, noise and NOx emissions." St. Louis-based Trans States currently operates ERJ-145s while GoJet flies CRJ700s.

Mitsubishi Aircraft President Hideo Egawa noted the significance of the first sale outside Japan, adding, "We would like to take this opportunity to further ramp up our sales activities around the world."

by Aaron Karp

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