China Southern, the country's largest airline, announced on Thursday that it had agreed to purchase 36 Airbus planes for 3.78 billion U.S. dollars from Airbus SNC, based in French city Toulouse.

In a statement filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange, China Southern said it would buy six Airbus A330 aircraft for 1.205 billion U.S. dollars and 30 Airbus A320 series aircraft for 2.575 billion U.S. dollars.

The aggregate consideration will be partly payable by cash and partly by financing arrangements with banking institutions, according to the statement.

The six Airbus A330 planes will be delivered in stages to China Southern between 2013 and 2014. While the 30 Airbus A320 series aircraft will be delivered in stages from 2012 to 2015, said the airline.