Virgin Atlantic discussing purchase of 10 new long haul planes out of Gatwick Airport

Virgin Atlantic is in talks with Boeing and Airbus about ordering 10 next-generation fuel-efficient aircraft to operate Virgin Atlantic services out of Gatwick Airport

The order could be for 747-8s or A380s which would start operating around the time of the Olympics in 2012. Virgin Atlantic will take a decision by May next year."

In April, Virgin placed an order for 15 of Boeing's new carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner jets worth around $2.8 billion (1.37 billion pounds) to be mostly based at Heathrow airport.

Virgin currently has six A380s on order from 2013.