ANA - All Nippon Airways (NH, Tokyo Haneda) has formally advised the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) that it has cancelled its aircraft order with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation after that entity axed its SpaceJet program in February.
In a February 24 filing, ANA - All Nippon Airways said it had terminated the firm contract for 15 aircraft, along with options for a further 10. The order dates back to 2008, with ANA securing M90 launch customer status. The aircraft type was initially due to enter revenue service with subsidiary ANA Wings (EH, Sapporo Chitose) in 2013. But a continuing series of development problems meant that no SpaceJets were ever delivered to customers. After pausing development in October 2020, Mitsubishi finally ended its foray into the commercial airline business earlier this year.
ANA - All Nippon Airways had previously received compensation from Mitsubishi over the delivery delays. This week's filing said the airline expected no financial impact this fiscal year from the cancellation. There was no disclosure of any further compensation payments from Mitsubishi. In late February, JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) disclosed that it had received JPY8 billion yen (USD59.8 million dollars) in payments after it formally axed its order for thirty-two M90s.
Following Mitsubishi's formal SpaceJet closure announcement, ANA President Koji Shibata said the airline group had enough aircraft on the ground or coming from other manufacturers to cover its needs through to FY 2025. "I think we will need alternative aircraft from fiscal 2025," he said. ANA - All Nippon Airways had planned to swap out DHC-8-Q400s at ANA Wings for the slightly larger M90s. However, due to the continuing M90s delays, ANA eventually acquired additional DHC-8-400s and B737-800s to meet its capacity needs while also delaying the retirement of its B737-500s. There are reports ANA is now looking at the regional jets on offer from Airbus and Embraer.
