(Yicai) Dec. 30 -- Chinese carriers Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines announced orders for 55 Airbus aircraft worth a total of USD8.2 billion, further strengthening China's position as the European plane maker's largest single market.

Juneyao Airlines will buy 25 A320 series aircraft from Airbus for USD4.1 billion, based on the price cited in the manufacturer's latest catalog, the Shanghai-based carrier announced yesterday. The planes will be delivered in batches between 2028 and 2032, it added.

Spring Airlines, which is also based in Shanghai, said on the same day that it would purchase 30 A320neo aircraft from Airbus at a catalog price of about USD4.1 billion, also expecting to receive the jets between 2028 and 2032.

The final prices for the orders will be determined after further negotiations with Airbus, with the actual cost likely lower than that in the catalog, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines both pointed out.

The A320 is one of the world's most used single-aisle passenger jets. Around 11,300 such planes are in service worldwide, of which more than 2,000 fly in China, accounting for nearly half of the country's passenger aircraft.

This year marked the 40th anniversary of Airbus' entry into the Chinese market, with its market share climbing to more than 50 percent from about 20 percent in 2008, said Executive Vice President and Chief Executive for China Xu Gang at a delivery ceremony of the 800th A320 at the firm's Tianjin assembly line on Dec. 17.

Airbus' first assembly line in Tianjin opened in 2008, making it its first commercial aircraft production line outside Europe. Its second line in the eastern city went live in October, bringing its total number of assembly lines to 10 worldwide.

China's civil aviation market will surpass North America and Europe in the next 20 years to become the world's largest, Airbus predicted last year. The country's fleet will reach 11,160 planes by 2043, of which 9,520 planes will be newly delivered, accounting for more than 20 percent of the world's total.

Editor: Martin Kadiev