Airbus gets biggest order ever from Indonesia

Airbus signed contract with Lion Air worth $24 billion for 234 planes

Airbus signed its biggest deal ever today, an order from Indonesian's Lion Air worth $24 billion that President Francois Hollande said should inspire the struggling French economy and all of Europe.

The CEOs of both companies signed the contract for 234 planes in a ceremony at the French presidential palace, a sign of its importance to the government. At a time when layoff announcements are streaming out of French companies and unemployment is over 10%, Airbus said the manufacturing of the planes would happen in France and would involve 5,000 employees there.

"Airbus is a national and European pride, one of the pillars of our economy," Hollande told reporters. "The big Airbus contracts are an example for our economy, what it can do, what it must do."

Lion Air is buying 169 A320s and 65 A321 jets. The first planes will be delivered in 2014 and most of them will be outfitted with a new, more fuel-efficient engine that Airbus has recently developed.

The airline is a major player in the Indonesian market and also gave Boeing its largest-ever order when it finalized a deal last year for 230 planes from the Chicago airplane manufacturer.

Boeing is the archrival of Airbus, which is the civilian aircraft business of the European aerospace and defense company EADS. Some of the planes Lion Air bought from Boeing are the direct competitors to the aircraft it is buying from Airbus.

But at the Elysee palace today, all praise went to Airbus. Hollande said the success of Airbus should also inspire European countries to cooperate in other sectors. France, Germany and Spain are all shareholders in EADS and hold significant sway in it.

"Our ambition at the European level isn't to just continue the great EADS adventure but to also conceive of other EADS for other economic sectors with our European partners," he said. "Europe isn't just a market. ... Europe is also an industrial ambition."

But making anything in France is expensive in large part because the cost of labor, including salaries and benefits, is so high. Also, some companies fear that it's too hard to fire French workers when things get tough and are instead eyeing countries like Spain, which has recently overhauled its labor rules and can offer some of the same advantages as France.

Lion Air is a low-cost carrier that holds about 45% market share in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago that's seeing a boom in both economic growth and air passengers.