Airbus is in talks with BA on more A380s

Airbus is in talks to sell new A380 superjumbo planes to BA this year after securing a program-saving deal from Persian Gulf operator Emirates, according to people familiar with the matter. The UK carrier, which currently has 12 A380s in its fleet, had said in the past that it was looking for six to seven second-hand A380s. Now it’s considering taking a larger number of new ones, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Airbus’s outgoing head of sales, John Leahy, said Friday he was confident the European planemaker would secure one more A380 order this year. That customer is BA, the people said. Airbus and BA parent IAG SA declined to comment. BA is interested in the superjumbo because of the jet’s ability to maximize the number of passengers per flight at its Heathrow hub, which is running close to capacity limits. The carrier’s main focus is on North Atlantic routes that are among the world’s busiest long-haul services, and it ranks as the No. 1 operator of Boeing Co.’s 747 jumbo, the second-biggest passenger plane after the A380. BA is examining a deal for new planes after concluding that refurbishing used examples of the Airbus behemoth for its own needs would be too expensive, one of the people said. The carrier’s superjumbos are fitted out in a four-class configuration featuring 469 seats, according to its website. IAG Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh has been mulling the business case for second-hand A380s for as least two years, with planes becoming available as the oldest ones come off lease from SIA after a decade of service. <br/>