TOULOUSE (Bloomberg) — Airbus SAS won a $2.4 billion Aer Lingus Group Plc order for 12 planes, with the second commitment in a week to the redesigned long-range A350 that competes with Boeing Co.'s 787.Aer Lingus, which has an all-Airbus fleet, will buy six A350 XWBs and six A330s. "Substantial discounts" were negotiated, the airline said in a statement yesterday. The purchase, valued at list prices, requires shareholder approval before Airbus can book it as a firm order.

Aer Lingus's commitment comes seven days after Airbus won a $16 billion pledge from Qatar Airways for 80 A350s. The Airbus model won't enter service until five years after Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Airbus has 13 firm orders for the plane compared with 567 Dreamliners for Boeing.

"This is a fairly modest-sized order, yet it is a positive development because there was concern recently about whether Airbus was going to secure orders for the A350," said Scott Babka, an analyst with Morgan Stanley in London. "The key thing now is to see whether there is further demand from some of the larger operators for the aircraft."

The other A350 orders include 11 from Finnair Oyj and two from US lessor Pegasus Aviation Finance. Airbus expects to turn the Qatar commitment into a firm order later this month at the Paris Air Show. Singapore Airlines Ltd. has pledged to buy 20 of the planes. Aer Lingus's order has options on six more A350s.