British Airways, UK's flag carrier, is close to reaching an agreement with aircraft maker Boeing to acquire up to twelve 777-300ER flying machines to offer bridging capacity after the major delivery delay to the Dreamliner's 787 it has placed an order for, reports Flight International. This is great news for passengers of BA, as they would be able to enjoy new aircrafts for many of their flights.

The carrier, which has placed an order for a total of twenty-four 787-8/9 aircrafts, was set to start taking delivery of the Rolls-Royce Trent-powered twinjets in the year 2010.

The British carrier refused to give details about when it now expects to start taking delivery of its 787 flying machines; though according to the reports by the magazine the aircraft manufacturer says that the average delay to the first delivery for its 787 clients is twenty months.

Industry sources say that British Airways and Boeing are discussing an agreement for the carrier to take delivery of between ten and twelve 777-300ER planes from the year 2010.

British Airways is already a main operator for 777, with a fleet of 42 -200/200ER flying machines and 4 more on order.

While this would be the carrier's first agreement for the 777-300ER planes, the option has been part of its continuing big-twin assessment that also takes in the A350-900/1000 and was expected to be finished by the end of the current year.

British Airways has a long-term requirement for up to twenty-five flying machines in this category.