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TOKYO: US aviation giant Boeing Co. will offer its know-how for Japan's project to build its first passenger jet, the fuel-efficient Mitsubishi Regional Jet, the plane's manufacturer said on Thursday.
Under a support agreement, Boeing will offer consultations in development, sales and customer support for the jet, which is expected to take to the skies in 2013, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said.
The deal "will contribute significantly to the success of the MRJ," said Nobuo Toda, president of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., a Mitsubishi group firm.
"The partnership with Boeing will be beneficial to us in that the name Boeing will offer a sense of reassurance to our customers, in addition to its technical knowledge," he said.
The cooperation on the new project further solidifies Boeing's role in Japan, the world's second largest economy and a key market for the Chicago-based firm.
Boeing has long-standing connections with Mitsubishi Heavy and other Japanese industrial companies. Japan's airlines buy nearly exclusively from Boeing, shunning its European rival Airbus Industrie.
Mitsubishi Heavy decided in March to go ahead with commercial development of the regional airliner after landing its first order from All Nippon Airways for up to 25 aircraft.
The company says the 70-90 seat plane can save about 20 percent of fuel consumption through a new "geared turbofan" engine designed by US-based Pratt & Whitney as well as a lighter body using innovative material.
Toda said the company expected growing interest in the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, or MRJ, due to high oil costs and growing environmental awareness. The maiden test flight is set for 2011.
"Amid high oil prices, airlines are focusing more and more on operating efficiency, while public attention to environmental design is increasing," he said.
"I believe that the MRJ responds to the demands of the present age," he said.
But the company acknowledged that the project will enter a difficult market. The new jet will compete with planes from Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer, as well as aircraft designed in Russia and China.
"As the market for the 70-90 seat plane is attractive, our MRJ project will face tough competition in the market," said Junichi Miyakawa, executive operating officer of Mitsubishi Aircraft.
Mitsubishi said it expected more than 5,000 new orders across the world for 70-90 seater jets over the next two decades.
The MRJ would be the first commercial passenger aircraft in four decades - and the first jet airplane - to be developed in Japan.
Japan has in the past developed a turboprop plane, the YS-11, which was the only Japanese airliner built since World War II. It made its debut flight in 1962 and production ended in 1974.
Mitsubishi Aircraft was established in April, with 67.5 percent of the capitalisation offered by Mitsubishi Heavy.
Auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. is offering 10 percent, with most of the rest from trading houses Mitsubishi Corp., Sumitomo Corp. and Mitsui & Co. - AFP/de
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