Anticipating an increase in demand for the Airbus A320neo aircraft in the wake of Post-pandemic recovery, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has decided to increase the capacity of its Nagasaki plant that manufactures combustors for the PW1100G-JM engine that powers the A320neo family.
Airbus plans to gradually increase production of the A320neo in response to robust demand for narrow-body aircraft. Concurrently, demand for combustor components for the PW1100G-JM engines, as well as after-sales service, is expected to double over the next several years.
The existing production plant manufactures combustors for the PW1100G-JM engines which powers the Airbus A320neo family. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused sharp demand decrease in the aviation industry, however business relating to short and medium range commercial aircrafts used on domestic routes has been seeing a quick recovery. Aircraft flying hours of the Airbus A320neo family has already exceeded its pre-Covid level.
MHI intends to nearly double the size of the present MHIAEL plant and will house certain manufacturing processes currently contracted out to overseas manufacturer and is expected to meet growing demand for the engine components for short and medium range commercial aircraft manufactured at this plant, with completion scheduled for March 2024.