LE BOURGET - British Airways has announced an order converting options, placed in 1991, for five Boeing 777-200 IGW (Increased Gross Weight) twinjet aircraft powered by GE90-90B turbofan engines.

The value of the order, based on the engine list price, exceeds $100 million.

These five aircraft will increase the British Airways fleet of GE90-powered 777s to 23. In addition, China Southern Airlines is currently flying six GE90-powered 777s, and orders have been placed by Continental Airlines, Euralair, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), Kuwait Airways Corporation, Lauda Air, and Saudi Arabian Airlines.

During more than 70,000 revenue flight hours since entry into service in November 1995, GE90 engines have experienced no inflight shutdowns. In addition, the dispatch reliability of GE90-powered 777 aircraft is 99.97 percent, which means that fewer than one flight in 3,000 is delayed for at least 15 minutes, or canceled, for engine-caused reasons.

In addition, among the engines powering the 777, the "good-neighbor" GE90 is distinguished by the lowest emissions levels and by the lowest noise signature, which permits twice as many GE90-powered 777s to land and take off at noise-restricted airports, such as London's Gatwick or Heathrow.