Honda out to shake up market with 1st jet next year

TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co expects to grab at least a quarter of the world market for small business jets soon after delivering its first aircraft next year, achieving the company's long-standing goal of taking to the skies, an executive said.
Honda, Japan's No.3 car maker and the world's biggest manufacturer of motorcycles and engines, is in the final stages of getting its $4.5 million HondaJet certified. It aims to ramp up the pace of production to 80 a year in the first half of 2013.
Honda received more than 100 orders for the seven-seater jet in three days when it began taking orders in 2006, promising a quieter engine, 20 percent better fuel economy over competing models and operational costs of two-thirds or less.
It has not disclosed an updated number of orders, but Michimasa Fujino, a Honda executive and CEO of its North Carolina-based subsidiary, Honda Aircraft Company, said it held a backlog of about three years from orders taken through its nine dealerships in North America and Europe.
"I'm very optimistic about our prospects," Fujino, who initiated Honda's foray into aviation research in 1986, told a small group of reporters at the automaker's Tokyo headquarters on Monday.
"We're doing with HondaJet what the Civic did to American cars from the 1960s. Our competitors are still producing with technology from the 1990s," he said, referring to Textron Inc's Cessna and Brazil's Embraer SA, which now dominate the 200-a-year small business jet market.
The Civic, known for its reliability, durability and mileage, has consistently been among the United States' best-selling cars since its launch in 1973, forcing industry giants such as General Motors Co to follow suit with cars to meet the country's tighter emissions regulations.
Honda's ambition of making jets traces back to its iconic founder, Soichiro Honda. The HondaJet will make Honda the only car maker in the world to build its own aircraft.
Its engine is made by a joint venture between Honda and General Electric Co.
Honda Aircraft is aiming to turn a profit by 2018, Fujino said.
BRAZIL, CHINA CLAMOURING FOR JETS
The business jet industry is expecting a rebound in sales this year after the global economic crisis hammered sales over the past three years.
While the small business jet market has traditionally been limited to North America and Europe so far, Fujino said he was fielding about a call a week from China, both from prospective buyers and eager dealers, while interest was also greater than he anticipated in Brazil, India and the Middle East.
"Right now we want to focus on delivering on the orders that we have, but I'd like to enter Brazil and China earlier than we'd initially planned," he said, declining to specify a timeframe. New demand from emerging markets could expand the global small-jet market to about 300 a year, he said.
Fujino said he was also seeing more interest in the smallest end of the market as medium-sized jet users look to downsize to get more for their fuel, much like the trend in the car industry.
"Most of our customers are owners of small- and medium-sized businesses, and many are looking to get the most out of the jets that they need," he said.
With operational costs of about $1,000-$1,200 an hour, HondaJet could make travelling in a group of five or six cheaper and more efficient than flying commercially between small cities, he said. Competitors offer at best $1,800 by comparison, he added.
Honda Aircraft will add 300-350 factory staff to bring its total workforce to around 1,000 in the first half of 2013, Fujino said.

Embraer delivers China's first Lineage 1000

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has delivered its first Lineage 1000 executive jet to an unnamed customer in China.
"It is inspiring news to have the first Lineage 1000 delivered to the Greater China Region, which is an important milestone for the company's presence in this market," said Embraer China's president, Guan Dongyuan.
Based on the E-195 airliner, the Lineage 1000 is Embraer's largest executive jet and can accommodate up to 19 passengers.
It is powered by two General Electric CF34-10E7-B engines and has a range of 8,334km (4,500nm). The aircraft can fly non-stop on routes such as Beijing-Dubai and Hong Kong-Sydney.

Embraer rolls out the Legacy 500 on schedule

Embraer has rolled out its newest executive jet, the midsize Legacy 500,narrowly achieving its Q4 2011 target.

The milestone rollout - at the production hangar at the company's São José dos Campos headquarters, in Brazil - will allow development and test engineers to perform important ground tests, prior to the aircraft’s first flight, which is scheduled for the third quarter of 2012.
“This is a significant day for the Legacy 500 program,” said Maurício Almeida, vice president, programs – Embraer Executive Jets. “Releasing the aircraft from production to the test team will allow us to gather vital information during ground tests, which will be used to shorten the flight test campaign.”
Following the rollout, the aircraft will undergo initial systems evaluations leading to the first engine run, and then to the ground vibration tests (GVT), and the full regimen of ground tests. This aircraft is the first of three prototypes that will be used in development, ground, flight and certification testing.

There are more than 800 Embraer engineers supporting these technical efforts. The aircraft will be certified by ANAC (Brazil), FAA (USA), EASA (Europe), and other aviation authorities in key markets throughout the world.

The aircraft is powered by two Honeywell HTF 7500E turbofan engines, each one producing 6,540 pounds of thrust at takeoff. They will allow the aircraft to fly at a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.82, and to have a range of 5,600 kilometers (3,000 nautical miles) with four passengers. The jet features the advanced Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion Integrated Flight Deck, as well as a modern full fly-by-wire system with complete flight envelope protection.

The Legacy 500 can accommodate up to 12 passengers in a stand-up cabin with 6-foot (1.82-meter) ceiling and a flat floor. Cabin design and amenities include four berthable (fully flat) seating pairs, a low 6,000-foot cabin altitude, Honeywell’s Ovation® Select Cabin Management System, and internal and external baggage compartments. Premium seats are also available with leg rest, headrest with flexible wings, electrically actuated lumbar support, and massage and heating systems, which are unique to its category.