*

Air China to be COMAC's first customer for the C929

widebody

*

COMAC gains orders from Hainan Airlines, Colorful Guizhou

Airlines

*

COMAC rebrands an improved regional jet

*

AVIC displays model of uncrewed spaceplane

By Sophie Yu and David Kirton

ZHUHAI, China, Nov 12 (Reuters) - China's aerospace

ambitions took centre stage on the first day of the Zhuhai air

show, with COMAC announcing Air China as the first customer for

its C929 widebody jet, while a model of the country's first

commercial uncrewed spaceplane was on display.

China's Bayi aerobatics team, a flight of four J-20 stealth

jets, and the public debut of the country's J-35A stealth

fighter were among the aircraft soaring overhead as attendees

strolled across the airfield tarmac.

State-owned COMAC also said its regional jet, previously

known as the ARJ21, had been improved and rebranded as the C909

for better branding uniformity across its aircraft.

"After careful consideration, a long gestation and asking

opinions of many involved parties, we chose to use C909 as the

new commercial name to build the brand," Zhang Xiaoguang,

COMAC's marketing director, told reporters.

The C909, unveiled at China's biggest airshow painted in

white with a blue tail, has also reduced weight, resistance and

noise as well as some improvements in flying costs compared to

the ARJ21, staff at COMAC's air show booth told Reuters.

COMAC did not disclose the number of C929s that flag carrier

Air China would purchase or planned delivery dates.

But it announced that Hainan Airlines had placed a

firm order for 60 C919 narrowbody jets and 40 C909s.

Colorful Guizhou Airlines has signed a purchase agreement

for 30 C909 planes, 20 of which were firm and the remainder

provisional, it added.

Airbus China CEO George Xu said his company was not deterred

by competition from Chinese jets, saying: "We want to focus our

resources to develop with China partners".

The company said at the air show that Chinese certification

of the A330neo jet was going smoothly and that the first

delivery of the widebody model in the country could come in

2025.

He added that Airbus was "very much pro-free trade" despite

a dispute between the European Union and China over electric

vehicles and a potential new transatlantic spat after Donald

Trump won the U.S. presidential election with a pledge to impose

widespread tariffs.

The model of China's first commercial uncrewed spaceplane

was displayed by state-controlled aerospace company AVIC which

said it was being developed to deliver cargo to China's space

station.

According to the official state-run China Daily, the craft

"brings a low-cost reusable cargo shuttle solution with Chinese

characteristics to space exploration". The China Manned Space

Agency awarded AVIC a contract for engineering flight

verification of the spaceplane on Oct. 29, the paper reported.

The military's Z-20 helicopter, which experts said was being

modified into many useful variants, was also on display. One

version, designed to track and attack submarines, was seen as

being of particular interest, as it would help the People's

Liberation Army Navy operate farther from home shores.

The air show runs to Nov. 17.