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March 29, 2024
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A sharp reduction in deliveries of 787 structures to Boeing is the major reason behind the lower revenues and order intake of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Aero Structures business in the third quarter of FY21, it reported on February 7. Lower rates Boeing hurt Mitsubishi revenues.

MHI produces the composite wing box of the 787. As Boeing has paused Dreamliner deliveries since May 2021 over quality issues, shipset deliveries from Japan suffered. Mitsubishi delivered fourteen wing boxes in its Q1 of FY21 (April-June), five in Q2, and four in Q3 to make a total of 23. By comparison, the Tier-1 supplier delivered seventy shipsets in the first three quarters of 2020 and 84 for the whole of FY20.

In line with lower production rates at Boeing, deliveries for the 777-program were also down on the previous year. Mitsubishi produces the aft fuselage, tail, and doors. In Q1, MHI delivered five shipsets compared to three in Q1 FY20, but these were down to four in Q2 (2020: 10), and six in Q3 (seven). Deliveries for the 777X-program between Q1 and Q3 have been two, one, and one shipsets, two down on the first three quarters of FY20.

The lower rates translate into revenues of the Commercial Aviation Aero Structures unit of ¥83.5 billion for the first nine months compared to ¥139.4 billion in the same period of FY20. Order intake dropped to ¥83.8 billion from ¥108.8 billion. Defense and Space income was also lower. Partly thanks to higher revenues from the Mitsubishi CRJ regional jet program, the Aircraft, Defense & Space business unit produced a ¥20.4 billion profit compared to ¥-77.1 billion in the first nine months of FY20. Total revenues were ¥423.9 billion, down from ¥532 billion but seventy percent down on FY19. Mitsubishi expects to maintain full-year profit for the unit at ¥20 billion.

Aero Engines performed better, with revenues up to ¥48.1 billion from ¥41.3 billion and order intake to ¥51.1 billion from ¥38.2 billion as air travel recovers.

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Active as a journalist since 1987, with a background in newspapers, magazines, and a regional news station, Richard has been covering commercial aviation on a freelance basis since late 2016.
Richard is contributing to AirInsight since December 2018. He also writes for Airliner World, Aviation News, Piloot & Vliegtuig, and Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine. Twitter: @rschuur_aero.

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