UPDATE 1-Vietnam Air to sign deal for 30 Airbus planes

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By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Vietnam Airlines said on Thursday it would sign a contract to buy 10 Airbus A350-900XWB passenger jets and 20 single-aisle A321 jets on Friday.

"This is part of the agreement reached earlier," an official of the Hanoi-based Vietnam Airlines told Reuters.

In early October, the airline signed a draft agreement to buy the 30 Airbus aircraft during a visit to Paris by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The Airbus deals are worth $3.8 billion at list prices, including $2.4 billion for the crucial A350 order where the competition between Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus is at its fiercest.

Vietnam Airlines, under pressure to keep up with demand as the southeast Asian country's economy grows at more than 8 percent a year and tourism and trade with it, has 46 aircraft but wants to increase that to 86 by 2015.

The government had asked Vietnam Airlines to speed up talks with Boeing to sign a contract for purchasing 12 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft before Nov. 16 and the deal for the 30 Airbus planes before Dec. 21.

In an invitation sent to Reuters on Thursday, Vietnam Airlines said the contract would be signed at 9:00 am (0200 GMT) on Friday in Hanoi between Airbus Industries, Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Joint Stock Co and Vietnam Airlines.

Last month, the national carrier signed the contract with Boeing Co as scheduled.

The U.S. plane maker will supply four Dreamliner planes to the airline and eight to the aircraft leasing firm, in which Vietnam Airlines is one of five founding shareholders.

The Boeing deals amount to $1.9 billion at catalogue prices.

The Vietnamese government has said the airline does not have to hold a tender for the purchase of Boeing and Airbus planes. The Finance Ministry would provide guarantees for any funds used for airplanes and engines, the government said.

Vietnam Airlines aims to expand its fleet to 60 planes in 2010, 85 in 2015 and 107 in 2020.

Earlier this month it signed a contract to buy five new ATR 72-500 airplanes, with the first deliveries expected in 2009.

ATR is a venture between EADS (EAD.PA) and Italy's Alenia Aeronautica, a unit of Finmeccania (SIFI.MI).