Story ID: 758 hondajet
HondaJet Poised To Enter Service in December
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Honda Aircraft is finishing function and reliability testing this week, the last testing required for certification.
Word Count: 303
Honda Aircraft is nearing full type certification of its HondaJet HA-420 with the final function and reliability certification testing expected to conclude this week, president and CEO Michimasa Fujino said today at NBAA 2015. He anticipates certification and first deliveries by year-end.

The company has amassed more 3,000 flight hours, with testing conducted at more than 70 locations. Five production aircraft are flying and 25 more are on the production line, Fujino said.

Full certification, which follows receipt of provisional type certification in March, will culminate decades of research, testing and preparation. Honda Aircraft has built up a staff of 1,700 employees and expanded its campus in Greensboro, N.C., to encompass 680,000 sq ft of facilities, including an on-site FlightSafety International learning center. The company has also obtained a Part 145 repair station certificate and set up a network of 11 dealers in the U.S., South America and Europe. The training center is operational, and the first classes of training are expected to begin shortly, Fujino said.

Fujino maintained that the company has orders for more than 100 HondaJets, a number the company has recited over the past several years. Plans call for production to begin at an initial rate of three to four a month in 2016, he said.

While creating a sales presence on three continents, Fujino said the company is evaluating possible dealerships in Asia and/or India next. “It may not be very soon,” he said, but the company believes there is substantial potential in those regions.

As for the next in line, Fujino quipped, “I like family very much,” and added the technology behind the aircraft was not designed for a single specific product. It was designed to be scalable, and said the company must evaluate “how we can expand the business with derivatives.”