Tunis Air to buy 19 Airbus planes -French minister

TUNIS, April 29 (Reuters) - Tunis Air has signed a deal to buy 19 Airbus planes, including 16 firm orders, France's junior minister for transport Dominique Bussereau told Reuters on Tuesday.

Of the sixteen firm orders, Tunis Air has ordered 10 A320 planes, three A350 planes and three A330 planes.

The Tunisia order comes during a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the north African state, which is a former French colony.

Airbus is a unit of European aerospace group EADS (EAD.PA).

(Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; Editing by Richard Hubbard)