The airline signed a letter of intent to buy six Airbus A330-200 aircraft, with options for a further 18, and also put its name down for two Boeing 777-200ERs.

The deals, worth about $700m each for Airbus and Boeing at the planes' list price, marks a subdued start to the air show after orders worth $52bn at the last show two years ago.

The orders showdown between rivals Boeing and Airbus was once a regular feature at air shows but demand from airlines has been reduced to a trickle because of the global economic slowdown and the 11 September attacks.

Cheap seats?

KLM said in March it was negotiating to buy an unspecified number of Airbus A330-200s to replace 10 Boeing MD-11s and 12 767-300ERs.

Delivery of the Airbus planes is expected some time early in 2005.

"This addition brings the total acquisition to 13 wide-body airplanes, 10 new 777-200ER jetliners and three 747-400ER freighters. The two new airplanes bringing the total estimated value of the acquisition to $2.3 billion," Boeing said in a statement.

A KLM spokesman said the stated value of the deal was the list price "but no-one pays the list price" but declined to say how much the airline was really paying.