Singapore Airlines orders aircraft worth $17 billion from Airbus and Boeing

Singapore Airlines has ordered 30 Airbus and 30 Boeing aircraft in a deal valued at more than $17 billion, among the biggest in the airline's history.

The deal makes Singapore Airlines the launch customer for a proposed stretched version of the 787 Dreamliner, boosting Boeing's plans to offer a 320-seat aircraft designed for crowded intra-Asian routes. The order is subject to Boeing deciding to go ahead with the project, the airline said.

The carefully balanced deal also offers a tentative endorsement of the largest version of Airbus's future A350 -- the 350-seat A350-1000 -- which aims to compete with Boeing's successful 777 mini-jumbo. Singapore Airlines said it had the option to convert some of its orders for the main A350-900 model to the larger A350-1000.

Singapore Airlines already had 40 A350-900s on order.

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Tim Hepher; Editing by Michael Urquhart)