BA in £840m snub to Airbus

British Airways kick-starts the overhaul of its ageing fleet with an order for eight Boeing 777 200 ER aircraft
British Airways has delivered a $1.6 billion (£840 million) snub to struggling planemaker Airbus by kick-starting the overhaul of its ageing longhaul fleet with an order for eight new Boeings.

BA today revealed it has ordered four Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft and taken out options on four more. The first planes will be delivered in 2009.

Its the first order for new aircraft at BA for nine years. The airline is expected to buy 135 new planes over the course of the next 15 years.

Robert Boyle, BA’s commercial director, insisted it was a “close decision” between Boeing and Airbus.

“The ease of assimilating up to eight aircraft into our existing 777 fleet, rather than having a small number of A330s, swung the balace in Boeing’s favour,” he said.

But the move will add to the intense pressure at Airbus, which is currently paralysed by political infighting and constant delays to the flagship A380 Superjumbo programme.

On Monday, the European planemaker plunged into chaos as co-chief executive Louis Gallois was forced to shelve his Power 8 restructuring plan.

The Times revealed three weeks ago that Boeing was in pole position to win the first order from BA as the airline already has an existing fleet of Boeing 777 jets.

At the time, BA chief executive Willie Walsh should not be taken as an indicator of the airline’s future procurement policy.

Mr Boyle today said he was confident of a “competitive” approach from both Boeing and Airbus going forward.

BA is currently in negotiations with GE and Rolls Royce about which engines will be used on the new 777s.

The first aircraft to be replaced in BA’s fleet overhaul are 20 Boeing 747s and 14 Boeing 767s, some of which date back to 1990.



http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 417141.ece

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAW!

Well, if you study the history of BA, they also snubbed Vickers on the VC-10 in favor of the 707. So, ever since the mid-'60s, BA has been mainly a Boeing customer, and exclusively Boeing for longhaul orders since the L-1011. I'm sure Airbus didn't get their hopes up.

BA = Boeing Always

Not totally a snub - there was an order from BA for 4 A320's as well - certainly not the same as the 4 B777's - but - still an order for Airbus as well.

Given the 40+ 777s in the BA fleet, I can't say I was surprised to see an order for just four more.

I see 300ER's in their future as per someone I spoke with flying on a term pass who is high up at BA JFK about a month ago. He was on one of my flights I was working.

good news for boeing! glad BA is keeping thier fleet simple with only boeings for long-haul flying!