British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) will take delivery of its first of eighteen A350-1000s on order from Airbus in July 2019. A total of four are due by the end of next year.
CEO Alex Cruz said during an IAG International Airlines Group Investor Day presentation that the aircraft will be the first to feature the carrier's new Club World seat. It will feature a total of 331 seats in a three-class configuration and will likely be deployed where the current four-class, 334-seater B747-400s are deployed.
Cruz also stated that the first of twelve B787-10s will arrive from Boeing in 2020.
British Airways' longhaul fleet currently constitutes thirty-six B747-400s (due to exit in 2024), five B767-300(ER)s (retirement imminent), twelve A380-800s, three B777-200s (to be retired in 2019), forty-three -(ER)s, twelve B777-300(ER)s, eleven B787-8s, and eighteen B787-9s.
According to IAG's current fleeting plan, despite rising fuel prices, Iberia will only complete retiring its fleet of seventeen A340-600s in 2022.
