BA orders 777-300ER

[Montague S]

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/08/01/226310/ba-orders-up-to-10-777-300ers.html

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q3/080801b_nr.html

good development for BA.

[Shameel Kumar]

Thanks for the post Monty!

More music to my ears about the 777-300ER. :D

A bit of a shame that they're only ordering 6 with 4 options. As stated in the flight-global article, seems like the 77Ws are only going to be a short-term thing...unless of course they love the 77Ws so much that they order more.

Great to see BA's got over the whole GE90 issue they had with the initial batch of 772s.

http://www.cardatabase.net/modifiedairlinerphotos/photos/big/00010143.jpg

[Gerald A]

BA has 4 B777-236ERs on order

G-YMMR 771 / 36516
G-YMMS 784 / 36517
G-YMMT 791 / 36518
G-YMMU 36519

[Shameel Kumar]

So far rumour has it that the first 77W will be purchased from Boeing directly, with the next 4 frames being leased from GECAS, and the final aircraft again directly from Boeing.

Apparently first delivery will be June 2010..but this is information I've read on another forum.

Looking at the Boeing Orders & Deliveries page, there are 2 x 777s which are currently listed as an 'Unidentified' customer. Will be interesting to read if this deal is infact BA's, or if BA are yet to completely finalise this 77W order.

[Ash W]

Ordered to cover delays in the 787 program. Would be interesting to see what price British Airways got them for and what they do with them once the 787's and indeed the A380's start to arrive.

[Shameel Kumar]

Would be interesting to see what price British Airways got them for and what they do with them once the 787's and indeed the A380's start to arrive.

Most definitely, especially considering the face that BA will only purchase 2 of them while leasing out the remaining four from GECAS. Once those leases are up (and if BA don't chose to extend the lease agreement) then you could probably expect those 2 77Ws getting snapped-up on the second-hand market real quick.

When you think about it though with a more long-term view, it's quite a tactical move by BA. Not only will the 77W be beneficial for them when compared to the less-efficient 774s, but also provide great flexibility for many long-haul routes. Also, if by the end of the year BA's RFP evaluation leads to orders for A350-1000s, then the current 77Ws can act as a safeguard in case there are delays in delivery of those A350-1000s, with the delay compensations going towards further leased 77Ws to fill any capacity shortfall, or used to upgrade any A388 orders to A389s if indeed the -900 is offered by mid-next decade.

Who knows, maybe BA will love the 77Ws as much as EK and AC do they may opt to order a dozen more to be a legitimate model in their line-up to sit between their 787s and A380s until an A350-1000ER/HGW is launched to truely replace the 777-300ER.