After hitting a production rate
for the HondaJet of four a month only a year after entering service, Honda
Aircraft is looking at ways to increase production by 25% as launches a sales
campaign in China.
The Greensboro,
North Carolina-based manufacturer ramped up to four HondaJet deliveries a month
last January, enabling the company to deliver 24 of the 422kt-capable light
jets up to 1 July.
The HondaJet
entered service in December 2015.
Now, Honda Aircraft executives are considering how to ramp up
production to five per month, chief executive Michimasa Fujino tells Flight
Daily News.
The goal is to
achieve a rate of five deliveries per month while holding assembly labour costs
steady by reducing the number of hours it takes to build the aircraft, he says.
Honda Aircraft
does not disclose how many orders are in the company’s sales backlog, but Fujino says the
company is trying to sell one to 1.5 aircraft for every HondaJet that gets
delivered.
As the company
looks to boost production, Honda Aircraft has launched plans to enter the
Chinese market. The company appointed Guangzhou-based Honsan General Aviation
as the HondaJet sales dealer for China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The appointment
followed the company’s
application for a type certification from China’s civil aviation authority in August. An
approval by the CAAC is expected within 18 months of the application date,
Fujino says.
(Evangle Luo of TTFLY shared with you)
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