The first A350 will not be delivered until 2013

Aer Lingus is to buy six A330 jets and six of Airbus' forthcoming A350 model to modernise its long-haul fleet.

It is a welcome boost for Airbus as it tries to turnaround its fortunes, and comes just one week after Qatar Airways said it would buy 80 A350s.

Pan-European Airbus is continuing with plans to cut 10,000 jobs over the next four years as it aims to save 5bn euros ($6.7bn; �3.4bn) by 2010.

'Better on fuel'

Aer Lingus will take delivery of the six A330 planes between 2009 and 2011.

The six A350 jets will be delivered to the Irish carrier between 2014 and 2015.

Airbus is introducing the A350 from 2013 as a rival to Boeing's forthcoming 787 Dreamliner, which is due to begin service next year.

Both are long-range, medium-sized planes.

So far the Boeing 787 has proven the most popular, with more than 500 orders compared with just over 100 for the A350.

However, Aer Lingus said it preferred the A350 as it was "better on fuel and better on range".

The Irish firm said it had a option to buy a further six A350s for delivery in 2018.

Airbus needs to reduce its overheads due to delays in the production of its twin-deck A380 super-jumbo model.

This project is now running two years late due to major wiring problems, and the first planes will not now enter service until the end of this year.