Honda Aircraft (Booth C11634, SD13) has appointed Honsan General Aviation as its authorized sales representative in China and has applied for type certification validation for the HA-420 HondaJet with the Chinese CAAC. Honsan is based at the Guangzhou Airport in Southern China, strategically located to service markets in Hong Kong and Macau, said Honda Aircraft CEO Michimasa Fujino.

He noted that Honda already has widespread brand recognition in the country as the best-selling Japanese car in China. From Guangzhou the HondaJet can reach Beijing non-stop. Fujino said he expected CAAC approval to take 18 months.

The HondaJet has already received approval in the U.S., Mexico, Europe, Canada and Brazil. Through early October, 58 of the light jets had been delivered, including 24 in the first six months of this year. Collectively, the fleet has amassed 10,000 flight hours.

Fujino said Honda plans to keep production at its current rate of four aircraft per month from its Greensboro, North Carolina assembly plant, which currently employs 1,800. He once again declined to divulge the company's remaining order book for the aircraft or any plans for a follow-on model. "We are looking for growth at our company," he said.

At NBAA 2017, Fujino introduced Julian and Kim MacQueen who had recently completed a leisurely round-the world tour in their HondaJet over the course of 80 flight hours. Julian MacQueen reported that he set five speed records during the trip, including a flight time of 3 hours 22 minutes from Amman, Jordan, to Dubai, with just two maintenance issues—a tire that needed replacing and a CAS message received in Italy that was quickly resolved by Honda service technicians dispatched from Germany.