Airbus sells 234 planes to Lion Air in 18.4 billion euro deal

Low-cost Indonesian carrier Lion Air has signed a contract to order a record 234 single-aisle passenger planes from Airbus in a deal worth 18.4 billion euros ($24 billion), France and Airbus said on Monday.

President Francois Hollande's office called the deal with Lion Air, traditionally a client of Boeing , "the biggest for Airbus in terms of the number of aircraft and the overall sum."

The contract for the A320 planes trumped that between Lion Air and Boeing in 2011 for 201 planes worth $22 billion. Lion Air has been rapidly growing its fleet to meet the need for medium-haul jets servicing the growing aviation market in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country. ($1 = 0.7654 euros)

(Reporting by Julien Ponthus and Tim Hepher. Writing By Alexandria Sage; editing by Mark John)