US-UK trade deal: British Airways owner IAG buys 32 new Boeing planes from US
British Airways’ parent company has bought 32 new Boeing planes from the US, following the country’s trade agreement with the UK on Thursday.
International Airlines Group (IAG) confirmed the order of the Boeing 787-10 aircraft for its BA fleet, alongside 21 Airbus planes for its other airlines on Friday morning.
The US and the UK said they had struck what Sir Keir Starmer called a “historic” deal on Thursday, which saw American import taxes on British goods like cars and steel either slashed or removed completely.
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday that plane engines and other aeroplane parts would also be excluded from trade tariffs as part of the trade deal.
“We’ve agreed to let Rolls-Royce engines and those kinds of plane parts come over tariff-free,” he said.
He told reporters that an unnamed British airline had agreed to buy $10bn (£7.56 billion) of Boeing planes as the trade deal was agreed.
IAG did not confirm how much it had paid for the planes in its Friday announcement.
Chief executive Luis Gallego said the order was a “milestone” for the conglomerate and would “strengthen our core markets” over the next decade.