Airport News Japan

Research Center for Domestic Jet Aircraft at Nagoya Airport - Next to MHI Komaki Minami Factory

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A completion image of Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ).

On June 8, JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, headquartered in Chofu, Tokyo Prefecture) announced that it has decided to attract research facilities for a domestically made jet on land owned by Aichi Prefecture adjacent to Nagoya Airport, a prefecturally managed airport in the city of Kasugai.

Making its announcement through the Aeronautical Science and Technology Committee, the agency said it will move into the “aircraft-related research and development facilities" -the equipping of which is being promoted by Aichi Prefecture- and that it has a plan for a site covering more than 2,400 square meters with hangars, offices and warehouses. Other than being a center for flight tests of experimental jet aircraft scheduled to begin in 2011, it will also be the proving ground for demonstration tests of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), Japan’s first domestically manufactured small jet aircraft. Development of next-generation supersonic aircraft and support for space projects will also be carried out here.

The agency cited its reasons for selecting the airport area as the site, which include passing certain technical requirements such as existing aviation facilities, airspace and signal quality, as well as for the Chubu area being located in the heart of Japan’s aerospace industry, with roughly 50% of domestic aircraft manufacturing sales. Also sitting right next to the site is the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Komaki Minami Factory, where the MRJ will undergo final assembly.

JAXANagoya Airport