French President Francois Hollande described the "historic" deal as the biggest in the history of civil aviation.
JAKARTA — Lion Air, a little-known carrier launched 13 years ago with just one plane, has struck two of the world's largest aircraft orders in a staggering $46 billion bet on Indonesia's air transport boom.
France announced Monday that Indonesia's fastest-growing airline had agreed to buy 234 medium-haul A320 jets worth $23.8 billion from Airbus.
French President Francois Hollande described the "historic" deal as the biggest in the history of civil aviation.
The agreement was signed at the Elysee Palace by Airbus head Fabrice Bregier and his Lion Air counterpart Rusdi Kirana.
The deal comes after Lion Air astounded the industry with a $22.4 billion agreement for 230 Boeing 737 airliners, inked in 2011 as a visiting U.S. President Barack Obama looked on.
The impressive orders are in sharp contrast with the size of the company, which is banned from U.S. and EU skies over safety fears.
Founded in 1999 by brothers Kusnan and Rusdi Kirana, who are ranked the 33rd richest Indonesians with collective wealth of $900 million, Lion Air is the first private airline in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago nation.
Currently it operates a relatively modest 92 planes -- all Boeings except for one McDonnell Douglas -- which makes it No. 9 among regional carriers in terms of fleet size.
Its 72 destinations are mostly in Indonesia, and the furthest it flies is to Saudi Arabia -- a route mostly packed with domestic workers and construction laborers.
