Qatar Airways orders 24 Airbus A320 jets

Airbus SA scored Monday its first order of the Paris Air Show from Qatar Airways, which will take 24 jets from the Airbus A320 family for $1.9 billion.

Qatar Airways' head, Akbar al-Baker, announced a firm order for the planes, including 20 single-aisle A320s and firmed up orders for four A321 jets announced tentatively last year at the Farnborough Air Show.

He said the deal announced Monday is worth $1.9 billion. Airlines usually negotiate steep discounts to the list price, particularly during grim economic times.

Qatar Airways will take delivery of the first two aircraft before the end of the year, and the rest of the order by 2012. They will be used on regional, European and Indian subcontinent routes.

Al-Baker said he would have liked to take delivery sooner, but that Airbus did not have slots available, a sign that the planemaker's books have not been ravaged by airlines seeking to defer or delay delivery.

"We are trying to expedite the deliveries and Airbus is unable to give us earlier slots which means that they are still robust in their deliveries of the A320 family aircraft," he said at a press conference during the Paris Air Show.

Tiny Qatar is quickly scaling up its national carrier, Qatar Airways, which flies to more than 80 cities.

Analysts expect few orders at this year's air show at Le Bourget because airlines are struggling to fill their planes as the economic crisis hits air travel.

Al-Baker also addressed the "unfortunate accident" of Air France Flight 447.

He said Qatar Airways was in the process of replacing its Pitot tubes - the speed sensors that investigators are examining as a possible factor in the crash - before the accident and that "we still don't know what was the cause. We should wait and see the outcome of the investigation."