Does this make the 747-8 a 'one airline' airliner I wonder? Pointedly no reference to it in the above article and Press Release below:
BA PRESS RELEASE
British Airways has today placed an order for 12 Airbus A380 and 24 Boeing 787 aircraft with options for a further seven Airbus A380s and18 Boeing 787s. Both aircraft types will be powered by Rolls-Royce engines.
The new aircraft will replace 34 of the airline's longhaul fleet and will be delivered between 2010 and 2014. The order, including options, will give the airline the ability to grow its capacity by up to four per cent per year and the flexibility to tailor its future capacity growth in line with market conditions.
The aircraft will be greener, quieter and more fuel efficient with significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions and reduced impact on local air quality. This was a key consideration in the order.
Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive, said: "This is an exciting day for British Airways with our largest fleet order since 1998. It's great news for our business, our customers and the environment.
"These aircraft set the gold standard when it comes to environmental performance in the key areas of CO2 emissions, local air quality and noise. They will contribute significantly to our target of improving fuel efficiency by 25 per cent between 2005 and 2025.
"They are also much quieter than their predecessors, which is of vital importance at Heathrow. Both the A380 and B787 are rated as producing a quarter of the noise level of the B747-400.
"These new aircraft will continue our commitment to deliver the best travel experience to our customers. This order builds upon our recent investment in improving the customer experience through Terminal 5, the new Club World cabin, inflight entertainment system and ba.com."
The new aircraft types will enable the airline to strengthen further its network strategy, complementing each other in the longhaul fleet. The A380 will be used to provide more capacity for the airline's key high-density markets and maximise use of scarce Heathrow slots. The B787 will be used to start new routes and increase frequencies in existing markets.
Both aircraft bring significant economic benefits with lower costs per seat. They are both long range aircraft and bring more flexibility in to the fleet as, unlike the B767 that they replace, they can be flown across the airline's network.
British Airways will continue to consider the most suitable aircraft to replace its remaining B747-400 aircraft and is examining the B787-10, B777-300 ER and A350XWB.
The airline has arranged for a group of banks to provide $1.5 billion of debt financing to cover all of the airline's firm orders to the end of 2011.
Ends
September 27, 2007 095/LG/O7
Notes to editors:
The airline will order both the B787-8 and B787-9.
The new aircraft will replace 20 of the airline's B747-400s and its14 longhaul B767 fleet.
The A380s will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines and the B787s will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. The engine order includes a lifetime maintenance contract.
In terms of CO2 emissions per seat, the A380's performance will be 17 per cent cleaner than the Boeing 747-400's, and the B787's performance 30 per cent cleaner than the B767's.
On the noise rating system at Heathrow, the A380 and the B787 are classed as QC 0.5 on arrival compared to QC2 for the B747-4. (That means they are rated as producing 25 per cent of a 747-400's noise level.)
In terms of NOx emissions, an A380 produces 10 per cent less than a B747-400, and a B787 produces 46 per cent less than a B767.
The total list price for the firm orders is US$8.2 billion for the airframe and engines.
The airline currently operates 114 longhaul aircraft - 57 B747-400, 43 B777s and 14
B 767s.
A webcast of British Airways' conference call to city analysts can be accessed via the internet
www.bashares.com at 3pm.
This document is the summary financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2007 of British Airways Plc, whose details are above. Certain statements included in this edition of Investor may be forward-looking and may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation,
projections relating to results of operations and financial conditions and the company's plans and objectives for future operations, including, without limitation, discussions of the company's business and financing plans, expected future revenues and expenditures and divestments. All forward-looking statements in this report are based upon information known to the company on the date of this report. The company
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. It is not reasonably possible to itemise all of the many factors and specific events that could cause the company's forward-looking statements to be incorrect or that could otherwise have a material adverse effect on the future operations or results of an airline operating in the
global economy. Fuller information on some of the factors which could result in a material difference is available in the company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended March 31, 2007, which is available on
www.bashareholders.com.