After a thorough selection process, International Airline Group (IAG) and British Airways have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 18 aircraft A350-1000 plus other optional 18. This process is part of the strategy of the fleet development group for long flights.
IAG, a group of British Airways and Iberia, has also discussed a possible order they could place for Iberia, but only when the Spanish airline is on the rise.
The British Airways development plan is built on a fleet of Airbus A350 and A380 aircraft, thus having the flexibility to operate flights according to the requirements on each route. Both models can be used on medium and long flights, but A380 offers up to 800 seating capacity, while A350-1000 can carry up to 550 passengers in a single class configuration.
The Airbus A350-1000 is the largest model in the family A350 XWB (Xtra Wide-Body). Can carry between 350 passengers (3 classes) and 550 passengers (one class). Flight range is up to 15 500 km. The A350 XWB family of aircraft also includes the A350-900 (from 314 passengers) and A350-800 (from 270 passengers).
Currently, British Airways operates a mixed fleet, which also comprises 112 Airbus aircraft from the A320 family (A318, A319, A320 and A321). Since the summer of this year, British Airways will be in possession of the first A380 from the fleet, from an order of 12 units.