CHINA AIRCRAFT LEASING GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED 
BEIJING (Reuters) - China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings (CALC) (>> China Aircraft Leasing Group Hldgns Ltd) said on Thursday it had signed a provisional deal with Airbus Group NV (>> AIRBUS GROUP) to buy 100 planes valued at about $10.2 billion (6.39 billion British pound).
The order includes 74 of Airbus' A320neo planes, it said in a stock exchange filing.
The A320neo is a revamped version of the European planemaker's best-selling jet, the 150-seat A320, offering fuel savings of 15 percent and due to enter service in late 2015.
In a separate statement, Airbus said the deal also included 16 current-generation A320ceo aircraft and 10 of the slightly larger A321ceo model.
Hong Kong-based CALC is part of an expanding breed of Chinese leasing companies focusing on medium-haul aircraft designed to serve the country's crowded domestic routes.
Despite a recent economic slowdown, China is the world's fastest-growing aviation market and is set to surpass the United States as the busiest domestic air travel market within 10 years, according to recent Airbus forecasts.
The order came as U.S. leasing company CIT warned that China's airlines have dropped back in the queue for the latest medium-haul jets by under-ordering in recent years, opening up opportunities for leasing firms to fill the gap.
(Reporting by Fang Yan and Matthew Miller in BEIJING, Tim Hepher in PARIS; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath and Susan Thomas)
