Boeing

Japanese aviation officials today granted type certification to the Boeing 777-200 twinjet, marking a new way of certifying Boeing jetliners in Japan.

The type certificate is part of a new set of procedures put into Japanese law in October to provide a simpler and more structured way of certifying Boeing airplanes for export to Japan.

For the 19 777s delivered to Japanese operators to date, each airplane has been required by Japanese regulations to undergo Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) inspections. The JCAB conducted inspections related to design and manufacturing processes - as well as flight-testing individual airplanes - before granting an airworthiness certificate.

With type certification, Japanese officials will now follow a process that more closely resembles the way the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States and Europe's Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) certify jetliners. The JCAB will continue to conduct necessary inspections related to changes of individual airplane configuration after receiving information from Boeing and the Japanese operator.

An airworthiness certificate - a final check verifying that each airplane has met the requirements for safe operation - will still be granted at each delivery.

"Boeing is a leading provider of commercial jetliners to Japanese airlines, comprising over 85 percent of the market share. We are pleased that this JCAB type-certification for the 777 will further facilitate the operation of the Boeing 777 for Japanese airlines," said Chet Ekstrand, vice president - Government & Industry Technical Affairs, who received the certificate for Boeing from JCAB Director-General Yukio Kusuki.

The first airplane to deliver under the new procedures will be a 777-200 for All Nippon Airlines later this month. Applications for type certification have also been made on the 737-400, 737-500, 747-400, and 767-300.

In addition to the 19 Boeing 777s currently operated in Japan by All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Japan Air System, 14 more are on order, 11 of which are 777-300s - a higher-capacity, stretched version of the 777-200.