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FARNBOROUGH, England, July 19 (Reuters) New Indian cargo airline Flyington Freighters agreed to buy four Boeing Co. 777F cargo planes on Wednesday in a deal worth almost $1 billion at list prices.

Flyington, a start-up firm in India's still nascent air cargo market, said it expected to take delivery of the aircraft in 2009 and aimed to eventually have a fleet of 20 aircraft.

''We want to be the biggest (cargo airline) in Asia. We will be sticking primarily to Boeings,'' Flyington Chairman Venkattram Reddy told reporters at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The 777 is a twin-engined, long-range model which in its cargo version sells for about $240 million at list prices.

Flyington expects to start flying with 3 leased aircraft by April next year. The firm, which has links to the Indian publishing group Deccan Chronicle, said it expected to float on the stock market next year.

Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told airline executives at the annual general meeting of industry lobby IATA (International Air Transport Association) in Paris last month that the country's air cargo sector was set to expand.

''Cargo is one sector we have completely overlooked in India,'' Patel said, citing a meagre fleet of just five cargo aircraft. ''You could see about 150 cargo planes at least coming into India in the coming years.'' Hyderabad-based Flyington said India's air-cargo market was tipped to grow at 8.5 percent per annum and it planned to fly to destinations in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.

Both Boeing and Airbus have taken aim at the Indian market and both have new cargo models either under consideration or in development.

REUTERS VJ ND1850