Italian charter airline Eurofly has ordered three Airbus A350-800 aircraft and is leasing two extra A330-200 jets to open up more long-haul destinations, the European plane maker said on Thursday.

The mid-sized, long-haul A350s will be delivered from 2013 and the extra A330-200s, powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines, will arrive in late 2006, Airbus said in a statement.

The preliminary order, or letter of intent, brings to 143 the number of commitments to buy the A350 which Airbus says it has collected from 10 customers since it went on sale. That includes 10 sold to a buyer yet to be identified publicly.

Airbus last week won shareholder approval to go ahead and build the A350, allowing it also to start shifting preliminary commitments built up over recent months onto its order book.

Eurofly, founded in 1990, is owned by the Spinnaker private equity fund. It was formerly Alitalia's charter unit. It is planning a Milan stock market flotation.

The airline operates charter flights to the Caribbean and Africa and developed scheduled services between several regional Italian cities and New York using its three existing A330 jets.