Chairman Keith Williams made the announcement at the opening of a £3.3m extension to the University of South Wales' aerospace centre in Treforest.
He said work on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner will take place at its base near Cardiff Airport from 2016.
"What you can see is opportunity as we expand for Wales to expand at the same time," he said.
There had been hopes the work would go to the base but this is the first time it has been confirmed by the company.
Mr Williams said there was still maintenance work on the more traditional aircraft for the next 10 to 15 years but there were opportunities for work on new types of fuel efficient aircraft.
BA employs 738 at its maintenance base in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The airline will be operating 24 of the Boeing 787s by next year. The new Dreamliner uses 20% less fuel than similarly sized aircraft.
Mr Williams met the first graduates from a partnership with BA.
Engineering students will get a chance to work on a military jet inside a new hangar on the Treforest campus, repair aircraft and use an aircraft simulator.
It follows an agreement in 2012 to start an aerospace engineering degree which would include technical training with BA on real aircraft.
The airline is also training workers through the university.
The second hangar at the centre, which opened four years ago, will also include maintenance and repair workshops.
Aerospace is a key driver of the Welsh economy.
The industry in Wales employs more than 23,000 people.
The 160 companies across Wales have a combined turnover of £5bn.
Wales punches well about its weight - with 5% of the UK population, it has nearly a quarter of the aviation maintenance and repair work.
Six of the world's top 10 aerospace and defence firms have bases in Wales.
Welsh companies are also at the forefront of leading-edge developments, especially carbon fibre and other lightweight materials.
It is a growing sector but also very competitive.
Lithuania and Poland are particularly keen to win business away from the UK. Both countries have developed the aviation skills and wages are about one-third the levels they are in this country.
Wales has already lost 2,500 maintenance and repair jobs in the last five years.
But vice chancellor Prof Julie Lydon said students walk into jobs easily as there is still a demand for aircraft engineers.
"It's a really important industry, it produces around £60bn across the world, and we want to be part of it," she said.
"The investment here enables our students to work with industry on industry-ready kit and then to go into the world and make their contribution."
Source: BBC