Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.'s aircraft unit, building Japan's first passenger jet, will set up a quality-assurance center in Europe after pushing back the delivery of the aircraft by more than a year.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. will open the center in a couple of months and locations it is considering include Germany, where suppliers are based, President Teruaki Kawai said in an interview in Tokyo. It will be the second such center overseas after the company opened one in Illinois in June to strengthen its collaboration with suppliers.
The company said Aug. 22 it postponed at least for the third time both the test flight and delivery of the passenger twin-jet after delays in certification. U.S. customers SkyWest Inc. and Trans States Holdings have pledged support to Mitsubishi as it attempts to break into the regional-jet market dominated by Bombardier Inc. and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA.