Superjumbo order from British Airways.

British Airways

British Airways has committed itself for 12 Airbus A380s (to be delivered from 2012) and 24 Boeing 787s (from 2010). All the aircraft will be powered by Rolls-Royce engines. The total list price for the firm orders is £4.1billion for the airframe and engines.

The new aircraft will replace 20 of the airline's Boeing 747-400s and its14 long haul Boeing 767 fleet. There are options for a further seven Airbus A380s and18 Boeing 787s which still leaves a question mark for the future regarding the 37 remaining B747s, 13 B757s and seven B767s in BA's fleet.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is launch engine for the Airbus A380 which enters service soon with Singapore Airlines. The Trent 1000 is the launch engine for all variants of the Boeing 787 and will power the aircraft's first flight later this year, before entering service in 2008.

With no orders for the Boeing 777 it will put pressure on Boeing to update the world's largest twin-engined aircraft as a replacement for the balance of the 747 fleet. With only Lufthansa ordering the updated Boeing 747-800 in passenger form a big question mark remains over the future of the 40-year old design.