British Airways ditches Boeing jumbo for Airbus A380

Analysts said BA had probably received significant discounts as Boeing and Airbus battled for the high-profile orders.

"With the A380 likely to have been heavily discounted, and a reasonable discount on 24 787s also applied, we'd estimate the real value of the order at around 3 billion pounds ($6 billion)," said analyst Andrew Fitchie at Collins Stewart.

Walsh declined to discuss discounts, which are common in the industry, but said: "I'm very pleased with the way Boeing and Airbus approached this."

The superjumbo will fly on routes from London to Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa and the west coast of the United States.

The 24 mid-sized 787 Dreamliners, a model whose rapid sales have revived Boeing's fortunes, will be used to open up new routes and increase the frequency of flights on existing ones.

The Dreamliner breaks new ground with a fuselage made of light-weight carbon composite, and is due to enter service next year.

The two types of new aircraft will be delivered between 2010 and 2014, and BA said it had also taken options for a further seven Airbus superjumbos and 18 of Boeing's Dreamliners.

The airline said both aircraft types would be powered by engines from Rolls-Royce, which said it could make up to $5 billion from the deal if all options become firm orders.

BA said it was considering aircraft to replace a further 37 Boeing 747s and is examining the Boeing 777-300 ER, the Airbus A350XWB, as well as a stretched version of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, the 787-10, which the planemaker has yet to launch.

"This puts big pressure on Boeing to actually launch the 787-10," said one London-based brokerage analyst.