Transaero, Russia’s second largest airline, and Airbus signed a “memorandum to buy eight A320neo planes… The agreement also gives Transaero the option of acquiring four more planes,” Transaero spokesman Sergei Bykhal told AFP.

The deal will see Airbus supply the planes starting from 2017 over a period of two years, Bykhal said.

“The cost of the deal is a commercial secret. The catalogue price of eight planes is $712 million,” he said.

“For us it is extremely important that Transaero was the first to order Airbus A320neo planes in Russia, the CIS and Eastern Europe,” Transaero’s general director Olga Pleshakova said in a statement.

Transaero, which began flying in 1991, currently has a park of 67 planes.

The A320neo plane has a longer range and can carry more cargo than the A320 and is designed to be more fuel efficient.

Transaero and Airbus signed the agreement as Russia on Tuesday opened its MAKS international airshow outside Moscow, with Russian carriers vying to become serious world players.