I have no evidence of this although I work for BA. We were told the seven shorthaul 767’s were to last another 5 years after their interior refit last year. So that’s around 2017/18. By then BA should have around 30 787’s, mainly -9 and -10’s. There seems to be no obvious replacement right now for the shorthaul 767’s so it wouldn’t surprise me if in 2017/18 BA decide to refurbish the -8’s into a Euro config. A few more seats than the current 767, more modern and fuel efficient, and lots of cargo space which is one of the major advantages of the 767’s now in Europe. ( we regularly carry upto 8 tonnes of freight to Stockholm and back each day on the BA 780/1. There are many other flights which carry literally tonnes of freight on the 767) . So that would be one idea.
The other European major carriers have already gone through the same dilemma as BA face when they withdrew their A300/310s. In the main they’ve simply been replaced with A321s and on the odd occasion extra capacity is needed a longhaul aircraft is used. That is certainly not every day. The reduction in capacity has been matched with an increase in fares to control demand. Excess demand has moved to low cost carriers. Yields have improved. It would seem sensible for BA to go down the same route in due course.
