May 9 (UPI) — British Airways is ordering 32 new long-haul aircraft from Boeing in a deal worth nearly $13 billion, the airline’s parent company, International Airlines Group confirmed Friday.
The 32 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft represent a fleet expansion for Britain’s flagship carrier, which is also buying 21 new planes from French manufacturer Airbus.
The acquisition came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Britain, with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on speakerphone at the White House.
During Thursday’s announcement, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick teased that an unnamed British airline would buy around $10 billion worth of planes from Virginia-based Boeing.
Part of the trade deal will see the United States exempt some aircraft parts from 10% blanket tariffs announced in early April, including British-made Rolls-Royce jet engines.
The Boeing passenger planes in Friday’s British Airways deal will use engines built by Ohio-based General Electric.
“The U.K. government and Boeing were aware we were in this tender process. Tariffs in general we believe are not good … no tariffs will help us to develop the business, and I assume they took that into negotiations,” IAG CEO Luis Gallego told the Guardian in an interview Friday.
The company also revealed Friday it exercised an option in March to acquire six of Boeing’s wide-body 777-900 planes.
On Thursday, Boeing announced it had reached a deal with China Airlines for the purchase of 10 passenger versions of its fuel-efficient 777-9 aircraft and four freight versions of the 777-8 variant.
Around a third of the new Boeing planes ordered by British Airways Friday will go toward expanding the fleet, with the remainder being used to replace older aircraft.
IAG’s announcement comes the same day the company released its latest earnings results, which showed revenue growth of 9.6% in the first quarter, beating analyst predictions.
In addition to British Airways, IAG also owns Spanish flagship carrier Iberia and the Irish airline Aer Lingus among others.
Shares of International Airlines Group climbed by nearly 3% on the London Stock Exchange near the end of trading Friday.
