By Robert Melnbardis

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc's (BBDb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) aerospace unit said on Wednesday it has significantly raised its long-term forecasts of global demand for business jets, and for a range of airliners that can seat 20 to 149 passengers.

Bombardier Aerospace, the world's third-largest civil aircraft maker, expects the industry to deliver 1,320 business jets annually from 2008 to 2017, for a total of 13,200 units worth $300 billion.

In dollar terms, that is some 30 percent above last year's forecast, when Bombardier was calling for 9,950 deliveries worth $230 billion for the 10-year period of 2007-2016.

Business jet deliveries averaged 620 a year, on average, from 1998 to 2007.

Bombardier forecast global demand for 20- to 149-seat commercial passenger aircraft at 12,900 units worth $528 billion, in the 20-year period from 2008 to 2027, up 34 percent in dollar value from last year's forecast for 11,200 units worth $393 billion for 2007-2026.

Jacques Kavafian, analyst at Research Capital, said many commercial aircraft orders are coming from countries other than the United States and that should buoy the market over the longer term.

"Because the aerospace industry is no longer dependent on the whims of the U.S. economy, we believe this will be a permanent growth cycle extending to at least 2020," Kavafian wrote in a recent research report.

Bombardier's forecasts, prepared ahead of the July 14-20 Farnborough International AirShow, did not include a specific outlook for its own business and commercial aircraft segments.