New BA planes 'vital to Heathrow operations'

British Airways has announced an order of 36 new aircraft which it claims will be crucial to its efforts to improve services at Heathrow Airport.

A dozen new Airbus A380s were ordered by the airline along with 24 Boeing 787 aircraft to replace 34 of its existing long-haul planes.

BA said that a "key consideration" in the order was the green credentials of the aircraft and the impact they would have on air quality for people living close to airports.

Chief executive Willie Walsh said: "These aircraft set the gold standard when it comes to environmental performance in the key areas of CO2 emissions, local air quality and noise. They will contribute significantly to our target of improving fuel efficiency by 25 per cent between 2005 and 2025.

"They are also much quieter than their predecessors, which is of vital importance at Heathrow. Both the A380 and B787 are rated as producing a quarter of the noise level of the B747-400."

This is not the only improvement that the airline has made to its Heathrow services, Mr Walsh claimed, following recent investment in enhancing the experience that customers will receive when they use terminal five from March 2008.