FARNBOROUGH, July 15, 2008 (AFP) - Dubai Aerospace Enterprise announced a firm order Tuesday to buy 100 Airbus planes worth 12.6 billion dollars (7.9 billion euros) for its leasing operations.

The order is for 30 extra-wide-bodied A350 passenger jets and 70 single-aisle A320s, DAE announced at a press conference on the second day of the Farnborough Airshow, outside London.

'This order confirmation underlines our vision and strategy to make DAE a leader in the aircraft leasing market that is able to seize upon the significant aviation growth in the Middle East region and in other developing markets,' DAE chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum said in a statement.

DAE Capital, formed in May, 2007, is the aircraft leasing arm of Dubai Aerospace Enterprises, which is also the holding company for DAE Engineering and DAE Airports.

Deliveries of the Airbus planes would take place between 2013 and 2022, Airbus said.

Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates, which has made the bulk of new plane orders at the Farnborough show, one of the biggest events in the commercial aviation industry's calendar.

Oil-producing Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirate are snapping up new aircraft thanks to extra revenue earned from record oil prices which topped 147 dollars a barrel last Friday.

Soaring fuel costs, along with the credit crunch, are meanwhile encouraging airlines worldwide to invest in more energy-efficient planes and causing others to collapse.

Etihad Airways grabbed the attention on the opening day of this year's Farnborough show, announcing deals on Monday for 100 fuel-efficient Airbus and Boeing passenger planes worth 20.4 billion dollars.

Meanwhile earlier on Tuesday, European aerospace group EADS and Mubadala Aerospace, part of an investment vehicle owned by the Abu Dhabi government, signed a deal to make Airbus plane parts in the United Arab Emirates.

From 2010, Mubadala Aerospace would make small parts for mid-sized Airbus planes, including the new fuel-efficient A350, as well as the A380 superjumbo.

Airbus intends to launch the extra-wide-bodied A350 in 2013 as a rival to Boeing's Dreamliner 787, which the US aerospace group hopes to deliver next year following delays.