Taken from Flight International.
Since the deadline for manufacturers to submit their proposals has passed, BA’s commercial director, Robert Boyle, has gone on record with more details about what the airline is looking for.
Here’s a quick summary;
Deal will be for 40-50 aircraft to replace;
20 B747-400s
14 B767-300s
plus 10 “bridging” aircraft to cover interim growth requirements.
For the bridging aircraft which will be delivered from 2009 onwards only the A330 and B777-200ER are in contention. BA has reserved 10 B777-200ER delivery positions for 2009, but these will only be firmed up if the B777/787 is selected for the main fleet renewal order. Likewise the A330 will only be ordered if the A350XWB is selected.
In contention for the main order are the A350XWB, B777-300ER, B787-9/10 for the twinjet requirement and the A380 or B747-8 to cover the large aircraft requirement. The A340-600 has already been discounted, as the A350XWB-1000 will cover BA’s requirements for this category.
The article goes on to say that the 747 replacement order is extremely unlikely to be split between the A380/747-8, but that when the next round of 747 replacements is announced there may be room in the fleet for both types.
Lufthansa ordering 747-8 has improved the prospects for a BA order, as they were unwilling to be the launch-customer, but by the same token he concedes that while the A380 delays don’t concern BA it does mean the airline thinks they’ll get a better deal out of Airbus.
By: Ship 741 - 30th December 2006 at 19:20
Sorry if my message appears redundant to Phil’s wrt to the slot issue….we both posted at 1918z.
By: Ship 741 - 30th December 2006 at 19:18
Not only do the pax demand frequency (hasn’t Boeing made this argument repeatedly in recent years?), but BA needs to keep those slots tied up.
BA won’t allow any additional competitors to enter the market if they can help it.
By: philgatwick05 - 30th December 2006 at 19:18
Remember A380 is not the equivalent of two B747s or two B777s so if the majority of flights are full combining two flights is not possible without losing capacity that normall is used.
Though (slot issues notwithstanding) a flight could be replaced with an A380, whose larger size could accomodate more premium seats, which is where the money is made on these flights.
By: andrewm - 30th December 2006 at 19:08
True, but frequency of service counts as much as capacity on routes like these.
True for most part but im sure the 55 minute gap between some lhr-jfk services would be more economical to BA if they consolidated onto one flight on a larger aircraft, if that was possible.
Remember A380 is not the equivalent of two B747s or two B777s so if the majority of flights are full combining two flights is not possible without losing capacity that normall is used.
By: philgatwick05 - 30th December 2006 at 18:56
BA fly 11 flights a day to New York from London, they could reduce those numbers if they fly that route with a A380 and use slots left over to expand its Heathrow operations.
True, but frequency of service counts as much as capacity on routes like these.
By: XEROX - 30th December 2006 at 18:51
Well BA has been longstanding with Boeing so it’s not difficult to see why Boeing has the advantage here, coupled with commonality of newer a/c and the issue of infrastructure already being in place.
However I do see Airbus with a chance, firstly because of Willie Walsh, he was then CEO of Aer Lingus who seemed to have a good relationship with Airbus, they had an all airbus fleet (?), secondly BA fly 11 flights a day to New York from London, they could reduce those numbers if they fly that route with a A380 and use slots left over to expand its Heathrow operations.
By: tommyinyork - 30th December 2006 at 15:51
I think BA will go 747-8 and 777-300 and 777-200LR.
I can see RAF getting 767-300s to replace L1011s.
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December 30, 2006 at 3:44 pm