Airbus in talks with China Aircraft Leasing for 100-plane order - Figaro

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) is in talks with China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd (CALG) (1848.HK) for a potential $9-11 billion (5.62-6.87 billion pound) order of about 100 A320 jetliners, French daily Le Figaro said.

The paper said the Chinese plane leasing firm would sign a memorandum of understanding with Airbus soon, adding that the CALG wants to build up a fleet of at least 100 jets by 2015.

An Airbus spokesman declined to comment.

In 2012, China Aircraft Leasing committed to buying 36 A320 passenger jets at the Farnborough Airshow.

Shares of CALG, partly owned by a subsidiary of state-backed financial conglomerate China Everbright Group, were listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in July.

Asia's first listed plane lessor seeks to tap into voracious appetite for aircraft in the world's fastest-growing aviation market, of which it has a 3 percent share.

China's 800-plane leasing market is dominated by the world's biggest lessors, International Lease Finance Corp, now part of AerCap (AER.N), and GECAS, a unit of General Electric (GE.N).

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq)