The cancellation of the Avro RJX marks the end of 52 years of continuous jet airliner manufacture in the UK, which began with the de Havilland Comet in 1949.The RJX traces its origins back to the four-engined HS146, which was launched in 1973 as a jet replacement for regional turboprops. A year later, the world recession forced HS to cancel the programme, only for it to be revived as the BAe 146 in 1978.Since then the company has lost a fortune on the regional jet, including setting aside £1 billion for restructuring in 1992. An attempt to sell off part of the activity to Taiwan Aerospace failed, as did a tie-up with ATR. BAe has delivered 385 aircraft (219 146s and 166 RJs) and has four more RJs to complete. This total excludes RJX orders. At the time of launch, the RJX programme was expected to cost BAE Systems and its partner Honeywell around $100 million to develop.
Source: Flight International
