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COMAC's jetliner makes display flight at Dubai Airshow

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Company has ambitions of taking on Boeing ( BA ), Airbus

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Its two planes lack certifications from Western regulators

(Recasts with quote from Airbus official, background)

By Ahmed Elimam, Federico Maccioni and Tim Hepher

DUBAI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - China raised its global

aerospace presence with a flying display by its C919 jetliner in

Dubai on Monday, as Chinese planemaker COMAC pursues a place in

a market wrestling with delivery delays at Boeing ( BA ) and Airbus.

China's first fully-fledged domestic jetliner, in a white

livery with blue and green details, displayed its belly-painted

C919 logo to dignitaries at the Dubai Airshow in a short but

symbolic display of one of Beijing's key strategic projects.

Chinese officials declined to answer questions about efforts

to find their first buyer outside East Asia, but their marketing

compared the ambitious project to Dubai's own transformation.

"Where a miracle meets another," a poster read on a display

stand nestled between global aircraft and arms makers at the

largest Middle East aerospace event, running November 17-21.

Seventeen years after the C919 was first unveiled, Chinese

planemaker COMAC has ambitions to take on Airbus and

Boeing ( BA ) or smaller Brazilian rival Embraer ( EMBJ ).

Although the plane was first displayed at last year's

Singapore Airshow, its two existing models - the C909 and C919 -

lack key certifications from Western regulators and COMAC is

looking for alternative markets to help boost its profile.

CHINA'S ANSWER TO THE AIRBUS A321NEO, BOEING MAX 10

Dozens of people lined up to see the C919 in Dubai on

Monday, while a pilot chatted about his experience operating it.

Inside the halls where business is done, COMAC highlighted

plans for a family of aircraft to compete with the stables of

different models from Airbus and Boeing ( BA ).

These include a longer version of the C919 dubbed the

Stretched Variant, which COMAC said would seat 210 passengers

and serve the Asia-Pacific region.

The planned longer version takes aim at the Airbus A321neo

and Boeing's ( BA ) upcoming 737 MAX 10 - the top end of the

single-aisle market where Airbus and Boeing ( BA ) are battling for the

most hotly contested orders.

COMAC also displayed its regional C909, China's first

jet-engine-powered plane to reach commercial production, which

has been in service since 2016.

Brunei last month became the latest country to allow its

airlines to operate Chinese-made aircraft and its startup

GallopAir ordered 15 C909s and 15 C919s in 2023.

However, neither model has won a major global customer.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope welcomed

COMAC's arrival but pledged to maintain an edge through

continued innovation.

"Competition is great for the industry. It's great for

Boeing ( BA ). It makes us all better," she told Reuters.

Airbus commercial CEO Christian Scherer told Reuters: "It is

not a threat; it is a competitor, it is a reality."

Analysts do not expect China to take a significant slice of

the global jet market beyond deals with supportive countries any

time soon but say its presence is a clear signal of its ambition

to penetrate one of the last bastions of Western manufacturing.

While COMAC's advertising materials stressed intellectual

property was held in China, a C919 brochure listed 18 Western

suppliers for systems ranging from engines to landing gear.

Its reliance on Western parts was highlighted during trade

tensions between Beijing and Washington earlier this year when

the U.S. halted export licences for engines.

COMAC said in a statement it "remains committed to open

cooperation and looks forward to building closer, stronger, and

deeper relationships with global customers and partners".

Gulf countries have strong ties with China, the biggest

trading partner for both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have

welcomed cooperation with Chinese firms in recent years.

This year, COMAC has fallen behind on previously stated

delivery targets for its narrow-body C919, according to

regulatory filings from the three airlines that fly it.

The company also displayed materials outlining its planned

C929 wide-body jet - originally co-developed with Russia and now

driven solely by COMAC - but with scarce technical details

(Editing by Adam Jourdan, Joe Bavier and Alexander Smith)