Will British Airways Follow Emirates Buying A380?
Airbus is negotiating the sale of new superjumbo A380 aircraft to British Airways this year after obtaining a program savings agreement from the Gulf Emirates operator, according to people familiar with the matter.
The UK airline, which currently has 12 A380s in its fleet, had said in the past that it was looking for six to seven second-hand A380s.
Now he is considering taking a larger number of new ones, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private.
Outgoing Airbus sales chief John Leahy said on Friday on Bloomberg Television that he was confident that the European aircraft maker would secure one more order for the A380 this year. That customer is British Airways, people said. Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, and BA's parent company, IAG, declined to comment.
British Airways is interested in the superjumbo due to the jet's ability to maximize the number of passengers per flight in its London Heathrow hub, which is approaching capacity limits.
The main focus of the operator is on the North Atlantic routes that are among the busiest long distance services in the world, and is ranked as the number 1 operator of the Boeing 747 jumbo, the second largest passenger plane after the A380 .
BA is examining an agreement for new aircraft after concluding that restoring the used examples of the Airbus giant to its own needs would be too expensive, one of the people said.
The superjumbos of the operator are equipped with a configuration of four classes with 469 seats, according to its website.
Drought Order
The CEO of IAG, Willie Walsh, has reflected on the business case of the A380 used for at least two years, with the available aircraft since the oldest out of rental of Singapore Airlines after a decade of service.
Walsh also administered the rule on six younger aircraft considered surplus to the requirements on Malaysia Airlines Bhd.
An order for new double-story IAG floors would help vindicate Airbus's efforts to save the A380, which Leahy said on Monday could be scrapped after failing to attract a buyer for more than two years.
That was before Emirates, based in Dubai, announced its agreement for a maximum of 36 aircraft with a value of $ 16 billion.
While Airbus says the order will keep the A380's production line running for more than a decade, it is still looking to reduce construction rates to only six per year from 12 this year.
Tracking orders from carriers, such as British Airways, are still vital to raise the annual count to a level where the manufacturer can reach the break-even point on each plane.
The UK airline, which currently has 12 A380s in its fleet, had said in the past that it was looking for six to seven second-hand A380s.
Now he is considering taking a larger number of new ones, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private.
Outgoing Airbus sales chief John Leahy said on Friday on Bloomberg Television that he was confident that the European aircraft maker would secure one more order for the A380 this year. That customer is British Airways, people said. Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, and BA's parent company, IAG, declined to comment.
Will British Airways Follow Emirates Buying A380?
British Airways is interested in the superjumbo due to the jet's ability to maximize the number of passengers per flight in its London Heathrow hub, which is approaching capacity limits.
The main focus of the operator is on the North Atlantic routes that are among the busiest long distance services in the world, and is ranked as the number 1 operator of the Boeing 747 jumbo, the second largest passenger plane after the A380 .
BA is examining an agreement for new aircraft after concluding that restoring the used examples of the Airbus giant to its own needs would be too expensive, one of the people said.
The superjumbos of the operator are equipped with a configuration of four classes with 469 seats, according to its website.
Drought Order
The CEO of IAG, Willie Walsh, has reflected on the business case of the A380 used for at least two years, with the available aircraft since the oldest out of rental of Singapore Airlines after a decade of service.
Walsh also administered the rule on six younger aircraft considered surplus to the requirements on Malaysia Airlines Bhd.
An order for new double-story IAG floors would help vindicate Airbus's efforts to save the A380, which Leahy said on Monday could be scrapped after failing to attract a buyer for more than two years.
That was before Emirates, based in Dubai, announced its agreement for a maximum of 36 aircraft with a value of $ 16 billion.
While Airbus says the order will keep the A380's production line running for more than a decade, it is still looking to reduce construction rates to only six per year from 12 this year.
Tracking orders from carriers, such as British Airways, are still vital to raise the annual count to a level where the manufacturer can reach the break-even point on each plane.
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