Eastern Air Lines cancels order for 20 MRJs

Eastern Air Lines has cancelled an order for 20 of Mitsubishi Aircraft’s Mitsubishi Regional Jets (MRJ).

Mitsubishi told FlightGlobal that the sales agreement was terminated “very recently”, following the airline’s acquisition by luxury private charter operator Swift Air.

The deal with Eastern was signed in 2014 for the purchase of 20 MRJs, with options for an additional 20.

Yugo Fukuhara, Mitsubishi’s vice president and general manager of sales and marketing, said the decision was “regrettable” but would have “no major impact” on the MRJ programme.

The cancellation leaves Mitsubishi Heavy with 213 firm orders from six customers.

The MRJ aircraft has been delayed five times from an original delivery target of 2013. In December, Mitsubishi said it was on track to deliver the MRJ in 2020.

“We are proceeding pretty much in line with plans,” Hisakazu Mizutani, president of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp, told Reuters. “We can just about make it.”