Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the parent of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation (Nagoya Chubu), has confirmed earlier media reports that the first delivery of its SpaceJet M90 (formerly the M90) line has been delayed to after March 2021.

The "first commercial delivery of SpaceJet is expected to be in FY2021 or later," the Japanese industrial giant said in its third-quarter financial report.

The Japanese Fiscal Year 2021 begins in April 2021 and ends in March 2022. As such, the announcement signals a delay of at least nine months compared to the previous schedule, which foresaw the delivery of the first M90 to ANA Holdings in mid-2020.

In total, the programme is already delayed by around eight years.

The manufacturer said that the SpaceJet programme had accrued a JPY174.6 billion yen (USD1.6 billion) EBITDA loss between April and December 2019.

Mitsubishi President Seiji Izumisawa said during a press conference that the fifth SpaceJet aircraft was completed in January and will commence test flights sometime this spring. The completion of the unit was delayed by the need to redesign wiring and other systems on the aircraft. Four aircraft are already undergoing certification in the United States out of Mitsubishi's facility in Moses Lake.

The Japanese manufacturer also announced personnel changes "to facilitate the pursuit of the type certification of the SpaceJet M90". As of April 1, 2020, Hisakazu Mizutani, current President of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, will move to the position of Chairman, while Takaoki Niwa will assume the role of President of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. Niwa is currently the Executive Vice President at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the President and CEO at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America.