TOKYO (AP) -- All Nippon Airways placed the first order for Mitsubishi's planned jet, the first ''made in Japan'' passenger aircraft in three decades.

 

All Nippon Airways said in a statement Thursday that it is placing an order for 15 regional jets from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., set for delivery from 2013, with an option for 10 more.

 

Mitsubishi, a Japanese machinery maker, has been eager to win orders for its Mitsubishi Regional Jet, and ANA said it was chosen for reasons of safety, overall economy, passenger comfort and performance.

 

The value of the order is estimated at 60 billion yen (US$600 million; euro382 million), based on the catalog price of 4 billion yen (US$40 million; euro25 million) for each aircraft.

 

The Mitsubishi Regional Jet is to be a twin-engine aircraft seating about 70 to 90 people. The lightweight carbon-fiber composite jet is designed to consume about 20 percent less fuel than comparable standard jets.

 

Demand for smaller jets is expected to rise over the next 20 years in regional markets. Mitsubishi's main target markets are North America, Europe and Japan.

 

The jet, whose first deliveries could come as soon as 2012, would likely compete against midsize jet makers Bombardier Inc. of Canada and Brazil's Embraer SA, as well as companies in China and Russia that are developing regional jets.

 

Mitsubishi -- part of a major Japanese conglomerate that includes an automaker, electronics maker and trading company -- has chosen Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp., as the MRJ's engine supplier.

 

Mitsubishi, long a major supplier for Boeing Co. of the U.S., has already begun marketing the mid-sized jet worldwide.

 

If realized, the plane, with development costs of about 150 billion yen (US$1.5 billion; euro950 million), would be Japan's first nationally funded domestically manufactured passenger aircraft project since 1973.