Kenya Airways Ltd. (KAL.NR) has ordered 10 E190 jets from Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer SA (EMBR3.BR) for $428 million, the East African weekly newspaper reports Monday.

Kenya Airways, which usually operates with Boeing Co. (BA) aircraft, plans to acquire the jets to reduce the average age of its fleet from 8.3 years to 6.2 years and cut operational costs, Managing Director Titus Naikuni said last week at the signing of the contract in Nairobi.

Kenya Airways has the option to buy 16 more jets from Embraer, the weekly reports. But according to Embraer's 2010 annual report, the manufacturer has an order backlog of about 157 E190 jets.

Naikuni said Kenya Airways is also looking at other manufacturers. "I am sure Embraer will not like the fact that we don't propose to put all our eggs in one basket," Naikuni is quoted as saying. He said Kenya Airways plans to acquire nine more Boeing aircraft.

Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM (AF.FR) holds 26% of Kenya Airways, which is listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

-By George Mwangi, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +254 735 781 853; gmwangi0@gmail.com