Honda has selected GKN to supply the entire composite fuselage for its Hondajet business aircraft, with first deliveries set for spring 2012.
GKN Aerospace chief executive Marcus Bryson says verbal confirmation of the deal came two weeks ago.
The fuselage, built in two parts and bonded together, is being made in Alabama, but Bryson says an all-new facility in the Carolinas is under consideration, being closer to Honda's assembly plant and to Spirit AeroSystems, to which GKN supplies composite floor systems for the Boeing 787.
GKN composites are already in extensive use on the Boeing 787, Airbus A350 and Airbus Military A400M.
Source: Flight International
