HondaJet deliveries to start in Brazil in 2017 - CEO

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Deliveries of four-passenger HondaJets will start in 2017 in Brazil, Michimasa Fujino, chief executive of the Honda Aircraft unit of Honda Motor Co <7267.T>, said at an event in Sao Paulo on Monday.

The HondaJet is entering service about a decade after Honda announced plans to enter the executive aviation market. Honda is challenging Textron Inc's Cessna and Brazil's own Embraer SA in the ultralight segment, where demand has been slow to recover from a recent business jet downturn.

(Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Leslie Adler)