Oct 13 (Reuters) - Aerospace supplier Honeywell ( HON )

said on Monday it expects record deliveries of new business jets

over the next decade, providing the latest sign that demand for

private air travel, which surged during the COVID-19 pandemic,

is holding up.

Affluent travelers, who avoided scheduled flights in 2020,

helped private flying recover earlier than the commercial

airlines' business, but there were doubts whether they would

stick with private air travel once the pandemic was over.

A report by the U.S. maker of avionics and business jet

engines, forecasts private plane deliveries at a higher level

than before the pandemic, with demand for planes resilient

despite a U.S.-led trade war and geopolitical tensions.

Honeywell ( HON ) predicts global deliveries of 8,500 new business

jets with a projected value of $283 billion - the highest in the

report's 34-year history - over the next decade. The report

comes ahead of the world's largest business jet show, which

starts on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

"More people are flying in business aviation than

pre-COVID," said Ben Driggs, chief commercial and strategy

officer at Honeywell Aerospace in an interview.

"Those hours have continued to increase at a much higher

level since 2019, so it appears like people are really staying

with business aviation."

Demand has driven up shares of Canadian planemaker

Bombardier which is set to start deliveries of its

Global 8000 business jet, even as U.S. rival Gulfstream

Aerospace launches a replacement to its super-midsized G280.

New business jet deliveries are expected to grow 5%, while 91%

of operators expect to fly more than this year.