Frontier is adding to its Airbus fleet

The new planes will be delivered to the Denver-based carrier between 2004 and 2008.

The planes have a list price of $55m (�34.7m) each but Airbus gave no details of any discount that Frontier may have negotiated on the deal.

In addition to the 15 planes being bought, Frontier is also planning to lease 14 more aircraft, which would be a mix of A318s and A319s, Airbus said.

Deliveries of the leased planes are due to start in 2004.

Order battle

Frontier Airlines began to replace its fleet of Boeing aircraft with Airbus planes three years ago.

It currently operates 19 A319s and took delivery of two out of five purchased A318s in July.

"It's no secret that this is a challenging time for the airline industry, especially in the United States," said Noel Forgeard, Airbus president and chief executive officer.

"But Frontier is demonstrating that the path to recovery is with the most efficient aircraft possible run by a team that is focused on customer value."

The downturn in the air travel market over the past couple of years has led to a fierce battle between Boeing and Airbus to win new orders.

At the Paris air show earlier this year, Airbus said it was set to overtake Boeing in the number of annual aircraft deliveries for the first time in more than 25 years.

So far this year, Airbus has received a total of 236 plane orders.

Boeing announced on Thursday orders for five new 737 jetliners. Four were from unidentified buyers, and one was from Luxembourg's flag carrier, Luxair.