SEOUL, April 29 (Reuters) - Europe's aviation regulator

needs between three and six years to certify Chinese planemaker

COMAC's C919 single-aisle commercial jet, the agency's executive

director told a French publication on Monday.

The C919 - designed to compete with best-selling narrow-body

models of dominant planemakers Airbus and Boeing ( BA )

- entered service in China in 2023 after winning domestic safety

certification in 2022.

COMAC has previously said it was aiming for certification of

the plane by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

this year, to help it start selling internationally. The C919

currently only flies within China and Hong Kong.

"As we informed them officially, the C919 cannot be

certified in 2025 ... We should be certifying the C919 within

three to six years," EASA executive director Florian Guillermet

told L'Usine Nouvelle in an interview published on Monday.

Most countries require their airlines to fly plane models

approved by major regulators such as EASA or the U.S. Federal

Aviation Administration (FAA). Industry sources at non-Chinese

lessors and airlines have consistently said they would want EASA

validation of the C919 before considering the plane.

EASA, which began working with COMAC around four years ago,

needs to validate the aircraft's design and components, and to

conduct test flights, Guillermet said.

"COMAC is putting a lot of resources, commitment, and

technical means into this certification. I have no doubt that it

will succeed."

COMAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Guillermet said COMAC was not pursuing FAA approval, Usine

Nouvelle reported.

The C919 is made in China but many of its components come

from overseas, including its LEAP engine which is made by GE

Aerospace and French engine maker Safran.

In a bid to break into foreign markets, COMAC has placed its

older and smaller C909 regional jet, which was China's first jet

engine-powered plane to reach commercial production, with

airlines in Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos. Those governments

permit their airlines to operate Chinese-certified planes.