The first new generation Boeing 787 is to enter service with British Airways next May.
This will be followed by the Airbus A380 superjumbo in July.
Nine of a total of 24 of the new aircraft on order are due to be delivered in 2013.
Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA parent International Airlines Group, said new aircraft would replace old Boeings on existing routes in the short term.
They would then be deployed to expand to new destinations worldwide, especially in Asia, according to Walsh, speaking on BA’s inaugural flight to Seoul in South Korea.