Airbus unveiled orders worth a potential $6.35 billion on Thursday but its success was dwarfed later in the day by a huge United Airlines deal for Boeing aircraft.

European plane manufacturer Airbus announced at the Farnborough airshow near London that Russian airline UTair had placed a firm order for 20 of its single-aisle A321 passenger jets worth $2 billion at list prices.

Later on Thursday, United Airlines announced a monster order of 150 aircraft from Boeing, a deal which the planemaker said was worth about $14.7 billion.

United ordered the Boeing 737 aircraft, the world's best-selling passenger plane. The deal will see planes delivered until 2022.

"United and Boeing share a rich history together and we are delighted United has chosen the 737 for its future fleet, renewing our partnership for decades to come," said Ray Conner, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Latin American group Synergy Aerospace meanwhile firmed up a provisional order for nine long-haul Airbus A330 aircraft worth $1.9 billion.

Irish leasing company Avolon earlier committed to buy 15 of its future single-aisle A320neo jets worth $1.45 billion and Lebanese airline MEA proposed to buy 10 of the planes for $1.0 billion.

On Wednesday, Avolon had committed to buy 25 737 MAX jets, with Boeing saying that deal was worth $2.3 billion.

In total, the Airbus orders Thursday were worth $6.35 billion but aircraft buyers typically receive big discounts on the list prices.

AFP