LAGOS—The first of British Airways’ super jumbo Airbus A380 aircraft is to be delivered to the airline in July 2013, even as the building of the plane reached a major milestone this week, with the installation of four giant Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines.

The engines, which each produces 70,000 lbs of thrust (or approximately 30,000 horsepower, the equivalent of 300 family cars), were attached to aircraft ‘MSN095’, the first of 12 A380s the airline has on order.

British Airways’ Director of Engineering, Garry Copeland, said:  “We are delighted to see the aircraft taking shape, and can’t wait for it to join the British Airways fleet. This delivery is the latest step in a huge investment to upgrade the fleet and improve the inflight experience for our customers.”

Having been constructed at Rolls-Royce Derby plant, the engines were transported to Toulouse via road and ferry. Each engine, weighing six tonnes and with a diameter measuring almost 10 feet, took a team of five Airbus engineers to install.

These aircraft, form part of a £5bn investment by British Airways in new aircraft, smarter cabins, elegant lounges, and new technologies to make life more comfortable in the air and on the ground.