Farnborough (Britain), Jul 13 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Russia's fourth-largest airline UTair has signed an order contract for 20 Airbus A321 airliners.

The deal was signed at the Farnborough Air Show in Britain but no value was given for the contract.

In recent A321 sales to other customers, the aircraft has cost around $90 million each, making this deal potentially worth $1.8 billion.

Delivery of the new airliners will begin in 2013.

This is the first time UTair has ordered Airbus aircraft.

The new aircraft will be used on domestic and international routes.

UTair has traditionally used the rival Boeing 737-400 and 800 airliners as well as older Soviet-era aircraft.

UTair operates over 200 aircraft, mostly helicopters, and flies to 61 Russian and 39 foreign destinations. Its main operating hubs are Surgut in central Russia and Vnukovo international airport in Moscow.

The A321, which entered service in 1994, can carry 185 passengers in two-class configuration or 220 passengers in single-class layout. It has a range of 5,600 km.