British Airways Orders Boeing Jets

British Airways said Wednesday it will buy eight new passenger jets and change some earlier orders from The Boeing Co. in a multimillion-dollar move to upgrade its fleet.

British Airways will order two new Boeing 777s and six new 757s - all to be delivered next year as the carrier retires its aging fleet of eight McDonnell Douglas DC10s.

British Airways will also make a swap in its order book with Seattle-based Boeing, buying three new 777s to replace four big 747-400s that had been on order.

The list price of all the new airplanes and replacement orders comes to around $1 billion, although the 747s that British Airways will not be taking were worth about $660 million.

The old DC10s have been flown on long-haul routes out of London’s Gatwick Airport, mainly to destinations in the Americas.

British Airways will replace them with two of the 777s and six Boeing 767s that are either already in service or on order.