British Airways placed $8.2 billion orders for Boeing 787 aircraft and Airbus A380s, both to be equipped with Rolls-Royce engines. The company said that it may purchase additional planes soon as it replaces its Boeing 747-400 fleet.

British Airways ordered 42 of the new 250-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliners, thought to be the most fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly aircraft in the world. The reliable Boeing 747s are aging aircraft which will eventually need to be replaced to make room for the next generation aircraft models which are much more efficient and make less noise and greenhouse gases.

"These aircraft are the gold-standard in environmental performance. They are way more fuel-efficient. Airbus has done an extraordinary job because despite its size the A380 makes a quarter of the noise of a Boeing 747-400 jumbo," said British Airways Chief executive Willie Walsh, seeking to calm down fears from London residents and environmentalists that the new jumbo fleet will cause more pollution.

The airline also boosts the British economy, because the Rolls-Royce engines found in both aircraft models are produced in the country, as well as the wings on the Airbus A380. The Airbus A380 uses a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine and the 787 uses the Trent 1000 engine.

The Chicago-based aerospace company Boeing has launched its latest plane in early July this year. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner features highly efficient engines and seems to be the ultimate long-distance carrier, as well the fastest-selling new plane from the commercial aviation’s history.

787 Dreamliner has been praised for its unprecedented speed, but also for its design. The new plane employs more composite materials in its fuselage and its carbon-fiber wings than any other plane. This improvement, as well as others, has made out of 787 Dreamliner a revolutionary plane that is to bring Boeing fame and glory worldwide.

While the plane’s wings and fuselage are made in Italy and Japan and the jet engines are General Electric’s Genx and Rolls Royce’s Trent 1000, which would make it even more popular, its number of seats is just of 200 or 300. However, the flight range stretches to 15,700 kilometers.