BA may divide $15bn jet order

BRITISH AIRWAYS is considering splitting a long-awaited $15 billion (£7.4 billion) aircraft order between Boeing and Airbus, according to senior insiders at the company.

A recommendation for the replacement of most of the airline’s long-haul fleet will go to directors within three weeks. Until now, it had been thought that BA would choose just one manufacturer, with Boeing judged slight favourite.

But it is understood executives are seriously considering buying both Boeing’s new 787 aircraft ? a lightweight plane that is said to use 20% less fuel than current types ? and the A350, Airbus’s rival product. Industry sources outside BA believe the UK flag-carrier may also buy Airbus’s new superjumbo, the A380.

“It is an extremely complicated decision, and at the moment it is too close to call,” said a senior BA insider. “But what has become clear in our examination of what we need is that the 787 and the A350 are quite different products, and it is not out of the question that we would buy both.”

The order is one of the most hotly contested of recent years. Not only is it a large contract, for about 100 planes, but BA’s business is always highly prized by Airbus and Boeing because its choice of aircraft is thought to influence other airlines.

BA will make two separate orders ? one for the short-term delivery of aircraft to accommodate growth in passenger numbers expected after the opening of Heathrow’s new Terminal Five ? and a much larger one for the replacement of most of its long-haul fleet.

Most commentators had assumed that the airline would stick with industry wisdom and buy from a single manufacturer. This brings savings not only from the size of the order, but also in crew training and spares.

It had also been assumed that BA would buy Boeing, as its current long-haul fleet is provided by the American manufacturer. BA bosses have also in the past downplayed the prospect of the airline buying the A380, which seats about 500 passengers.

Senior BA executives, including chief executive Willie Walsh, have in recent months made trips to Boeing’s manufacturing base in Seattle, and Airbus’s facility in Toulouse.

Airline chiefs believe that BA will also buy the A380, if only a small number to begin with. After more than two years of delays caused by technical problems, the new superjumbo will make its first commercial flight later this year.

“Unless there is another technical glitch, I think BA will have to go for it,” said a senior executive at a rival airline.

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