Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it successfully conducted test flights of its small business jet earlier this month in the United States.
The HondaJet, powered by two Honda-developed HF-118 jet engines, made the test flights at Piedmont Triad Airport in North Carolina, the Japanese automaker said in a press release.
The jet is 12.5 meters long and has six seats, including two for the crew. It operates at a maximum speed of 778 kph and has a range of 2,037 km, Honda said.
Honda began research into compact business jets in 1986 and successfully conducted test flights of planes powered by an engine made by other companies between 1993 and 1996.
Producing an airplane was a dream held by the late company founder, Soichiro Honda, the automaker said.