Paris - Spain's largest tour and travel group, Marsans, has ordered 61 aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus, including four A380 superjumbos, Airbus said on Friday.

The order also includes 10 long-haul A350 planes, which will not be delivered to customers until at least 2013, and 42 planes from the medium-distance A320 family, Airbus said in a statement released in the southern French city of Toulouse.

"We are very proud to become the first operators of the A380 in Spain and Latin America," Marsans head Gonzalo Pascual said.

The order is worth about 6.6 billion dollars and comes at a time when the economic crisis is beginning to affect the air industry.

The French daily Le Monde reported on Thursday that in September air passenger traffic declined for the first time since 2003.

According to the International Air Transport Association, planes were filled to 74.8 per cent of capacity in September, down 4.4 per cent from August. (dpa)