Japan's aeronautics industry taking major step into the future

Tokyo

BY the end of this month, a gleaming new Japanese jetliner is scheduled to fly to the US using a flight plan that takes it from the relatively small Nagoya Airport in Japan's Aichi prefecture to the also little-known Grant County International airport in Washington State - with refuelling stops in Russia and Alaska en-route.

The itinerary sounds like a step back into the past but the flight will mark a step into the future for Japan's aeronautics industry. If the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) passes an almost year-long series of flight tests in the US and wins international certification there, it will mark a step towards take-off for the industry.

It will also further Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ambition to see Japan cement its role as a leader in high-tech heavy industries that will supplement the nation's role in consumer-oriented manufacturing industries such as m…