PARIS (Reuters) - Korean Air (>> Korean Air Lines Co Ltd) has signed a deal to buy 30 A321neo planes from Airbus (>> Airbus Group), the first time the Asian carrier has bought narrowbody planes from the European manufacturer.

The airline, which first ordered widebody planes from Airbus back in 1974, also has options for 20 of the single-aisle aircraft, it said on Tuesday at the Paris air show. Deliveries will start in 2019.

The firm part of the order, for 30 planes, is worth $3.7 billion at list prices. Including the options, the total value would be $6.2 billion.

"Throughout our long partnership, the one thing we were missing was to place single-aisle," Fabrice Bregier, chief executive of Airbus, said. "We have finally prevailed."

Korean Air's chairman, Cho Yang Ho, also said the carrier was "very seriously" evaluating the A350, Airbus's newest widebody jet, but that the airline first wanted to see more performance data.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by James Regan)

Stocks treated in this article : Airbus Group, Korean Air Lines Co Ltd