British Airways gets first Airbus A380 in $15bn fleet upgrade

Airline staff wave flags at the arrival of a British Airways Airbus A380 at Heathrow Airport in London yesterday. British Airways welcomed its first Airbus A380 jet, the world’s biggest commercial aircraft, part of a $15bn upgrade to top-of-the-range planes that will help cut fuel bills and give the airline a boost in the lucrative long-haul business travel market. The emergence of the fuel-efficient double-decker through the grey clouds over Heathrow airport in west London yesterday was greeted by hundreds of British Airways staff and spectators, a boon to a group that has been weighed down by its ageing fleet. The plane touched down on time and taxied into a hangar near Heathrow terminal five, met by cabin crew in uniform waving British flags. The first long-haul flight on the A380 will run to Los Angeles on September 24, the airline said, slightly earlier than the originally planned October start. “These aircraft are the start of a new era for British Airways,” said chief executive Keith Williams, noting the British flag carrier hadn’t had any new long-haul aircraft for 17 years.