SPRING AIRLINES CO., LTD. 
BEIJING (Reuters) - Spring Airlines Co Ltd (>> Spring Airlines Co Ltd), China's largest budget carrier, has signed a $6.3 billion deal (4.2 billion pound) to buy 60 A30neo jets from Airbus Group SE (>> Airbus Group) to meet surging demand for air travel by Chinese tourists.
The order, comprising 45 A320neo and 15 A321neo planes, helps extends Airbus' lead against rival Boeing Co (>> Boeing Co) for the fast-growing upgraded narrow-body aircraft segment.
Chinese airlines are expanding their fleet as the number of passenger travelling within China and overseas is set to triple over the next two years.
The planes, scheduled to be delivered from 2019 to 2023, is set to expand the Spring Air's capacity by 158 percent, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
"It will also improve the overall fuel efficiency of our fleet and help us break into new markets," Mao Yi, a company spokesman told Reuters.
Airbus and Boeing are fiercely competing for orders in China, which is expected to need 6,330 planes over the next 20 years.
To help win more orders, Airbus, which is already assembling A320 jets in China, has recently agreed to build a completion centre in China for A330 jets.
Boeing matched with a deal in September to build its first aircraft completion plant outside the United States in partnership with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China.
(Reporting by Fang Yan and Matthew Miller in BEIJING; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
