British Airways said Thursday that it has ordered 12 Airbus A380 and 24 Boeing 787 aircraft and has options for a further seven Airbus A380s and 18 Boeing 787s, it's largest order since 1998.

Both aircraft types will be powered by Rolls-Royce engines. The new aircraft will replace 34 of the airline's longhaul fleet and will be delivered between 2010 and 2014, it said in a statement.

The airline has arranged for a group of banks to provide $1.5 billion of debt financing to cover all of the airline's firm orders to the end of 2011.

The total list price for the firm orders is US$8.2 billion for the airframe and engines.