British Airways Splits Jet Order

British Airways Plc will buy as many as 220 planes worth $13 billion from Airbus Industrie and Boeing Co. in a sweeping revamp of its fleet, the U.K. airline’s biggest order ever and its first from the European partnership.

Boeing, until now the dominant supplier to Europe’s largest airline, won firm orders for just 16 of its 777 long-range planes and options for 16 more. Airbus will supply as many as 188 of its A320 short-haul jets, replacing older Boeing 737s in the U.K. airline’s European network. It got 59 firm orders.

The order is the biggest for Airbus from a non-U.S. airline and shows the inroads the 25-year-old partnership has made against Boeing, which trails its European rival for orders at the end of this year’s first half. In another blow to the world’s largest aircraft maker, British Airways canceled seven options for Boeing’s jumbo 747s as it shifts toward smaller planes.

British Airways said it won’t buy any more 747s for its long-range routes for at least the next decade, focusing instead on smaller aircraft like the 777 and the 767.