The way i see it , for the 7673’s replacement they are looking at 3 aircrafts in the A330,787 and A350 , then come the 772’s for which they are looking at the 787 again and the A350 , finally you have the 747-4’s for which they are looking at the 777-3ER
s , 747-8’s and A380’s !!

Personally i believe that if they decide to up capacity from the 767’s then a 787-8 would represent a 15% increase in capacity and a 787-9 would represent a much much greater increase and so would the A350-8 ( although the 8XWB seats about 10 less) . I would go for the 787-8 unless they want to seriously up the capacity in which case the 787-9 still looks better simply because it available early (2010 slots still available) and is narrower and weighs less . However the tricky part comes in next , If they look to replace the 767 and the 777 with ONE SINGLE platform they can do so with both the 787 using 787-8’s and 787-10’s ( boeing has allready said that they will launch it and it would EIS by 2012) or A350-8 and A350-9 !! Then comes the 747-4 in which case they would not replace all of their 747’s with either the 380 or 748 therefore they would most likely either go for a mixed bag of 747-8 and A380 or a mixed bag of A380 and 7773ER or 7773ER and 747-8 . These are the purmutations that they can use however the A350 is anything but certain with no launch yet and allready media reports that it might see further 2 year delays !! Most speculate that boeing is at an advantage with this BA order for long haul ( Airbus took short haul) and if that is the case i think the order book would look something like this –

* 787-8 replaces 767
* 747-4’s are replaced by a mix of 747-8’s and 777300ER’s which are also used in conjugation to up capacity to the 200’s !!

If there is a mixed order then expect some A380’s and 7773ER’s for the 747 fleet replacement and the 787 to get through on account of being more mature and offering product early and at lower risk .

However airbus will compete very hard and this could well be a All airbus sweep , although many media reports dont say this I am hedging that airbus will sweep it under boeing’s feet