NAGOYA, Japan—Japan's first commercial jetliner, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, on Wednesday took to the air for its maiden test flight after repeated delays—an important milestone toward planned service in the fleets of U.S., Japanese and other airlines.

The gull-nosed airliner, the most prominent aircraft to carry the Mitsubishi name since the legendary Zero fighter of World War II, swooped off a runway at Nagoya Airport into an almost cloudless sky.

The plane, painted in a gray, white, blue, red and gold livery, with the letters MRJ on the tail, was scheduled to fly over central Japan for about an hour before returning to the airport.

The plane, being developed by a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., is designed for short-haul flights, a market segment in which it will compete against Embraer SA of Brazil and Bombardier Inc. of Canada. It will come in versions seating roughly 70 and 90 passengers, with a list price of $46.3 million and $47.3 million, respectively.

As military aircraft hovered overhead, hundreds of reporters, business leaders and air travel enthusiasts gathered for the flight, reflecting the jet's status as a project of national importance. Minority investors include Toyota Motor Corp., and a range of Japanese companies are supplying parts.

The aircraft was originally supposed to have its maiden flight more than five years ago but the program suffered a series of delays. The most recent one pushed back the first flight by about two weeks. Mitsubishi Aircraft said in late October it needed time to fix a problem with the cockpit rudder pedal.

Despite the delays, Mitsubishi has stuck with plans to deliver the first aircraft in 2017 to All Nippon Airways Co. The carrier has ordered 15 of the planes and taken options for 10 more.

Other customers include Trans States Holdings, Sky West Inc., Eastern Air Lines Group Inc., Air Mandalay Ltd. and Japan Airlines Co. In all, Mitsubishi says it has firm orders for 223 planes and options or purchase rights for 184 more.

Ascend Flightglobal, a consulting firm, estimates that carriers will order 4,360 regional jets through 2034 worth around $135 billion. It predicts Mitsubishi will capture 27% of that market in unit and value terms.

Mitsubishi says demand will be driven by airlines moving up from 50-seat planes as well as scaling back from full-size jetliners like the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A319 because of low passenger yields.

But Mitsubishi faces growing competition, even before its jetliner enters service. In addition to Embraer and Bombardier, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. of Russia makes a regional jet, and Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China is developing one.

The Mitsubishi jet, powered by Pratt & Whitney engines, is the first commercial airliner built in Japan since the propeller-driven YS-11, made by a consortium of Japanese companies in the 1960s and '70s. In recent years, Mitsubishi Heavy has been a major contractor to other aircraft makers, building a large portion of the wings of Boeing Co.'s 787 jetliner.

Write to Eric Pfanner at eric.pfanner@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 10, 2015 21:15 ET (02:15 GMT)

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