FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Air Berlin PLC, Germany's second-biggest airline, said Wednesday that it has ordered 10 turboprop passenger planes from Canada's Bombardier Aerospace with an option for 10 more.

 

The Toronto-based plane builder said that, based on list prices, Air Berlin's order for the 10 Q-400 planes was worth $267 million.

 

It said that, if Air Berlin decides to exercise all its options under the deal -- initiated last October -- the contract's list value could rise to approximately $540 million.

 

Air Berlin said it expects to receive four of the planes this year and the remaining six in 2009.

 

''We will be deploying our Q-400 aircraft on routes that do not require the seating capacity of our jet aircraft,'' said Air Berlin chief executive Joachim Hunold.

 

Air Berlin's fleet of 124 jets includes Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s.

 

Shares of Air Berlin closed down 1.4 percent to 7.92 euros ($12.30) in Frankfurt.