Dubai: UAE’s flag carrier, Emirates airline, has released photos of its newest Boeing 777X aicraft, which is currently in production.
“We’re proud to see the UAE flag for the first time on the Emirates Boeing 777X. Currently in production, the 777X combines the best features of today’s Boeing airplanes 777 with a longer fuselage, new engines, new composite wing design, greater cabin width & seating capacity,” Emirates tweeted with a number of photos of Boeing 777X adorned with the UAE flag and colours.
On November 17, the first day of the 2013 Dubai Air Show, Emirates had announced an order for 150 777Xs, in the process breaking a record for the single largest order for a new airplane from Emirates and the single largest airplane order ever in the world.
Emirates had also confirmed in June that it was in talks with Boeing to renegotiate its order and may replace some of them with smaller 787s. However, no updates are available about the renegotiations.
According to the American manufacturer, the new Boeing 777X will be the world’s largest and most efficient twin-engine jet, unmatched in every aspect of performance.
The 777X will feature new GE9X engines, new composite wings with folding wingtips, greater cabin width and seating capacity, and technologies from the Boeing 787.
The 777X was launched in November 2013 with two variants: the 777-8 and the 777-9.
The 777-8, with a seating for 365 passengers, has a range of 8,690 nmi (16,090 km). The 777-9, which can seat 414 passengers, has a range of over 7,525 nmi (13,936 km).
With new breakthroughs in aerodynamics and engines, the 777X will have 10 per cent lower fuel use and emissions, and 10 per cent lower operating costs than the competition.
The 777X offers low-risk, profitable growth, industry-leading reliability and seamless integration with the 777 and 787 Dreamliner families for even more flexibility.
Flight experience
But performance is just part of the story. With a spacious wide cabin, new custom architecture and innovations from the 787 Dreamliner, the 777X will deliver the flight experience of the future.
Emirates will be the first airline to receive Boeing’s all-new 777X aircraft, when it gets rolled out in 2020, a senior Boeing executive had earlier told Gulf News.
Emirates is expected to receive its first 777X aircraft in mid-2020.
“Emirates is now actually ahead of its original mid-2020 schedule to receive its first 777X aircraft,” said Marty Bentrott, Boeing’s Vice-President, Sales for Middle East, Turkey, Russia and Central Asia.
“When we launched the programme at Dubai Air Show in 2013, we stood at the podium and Emirates was the key fundamental launch customer and at the same time we announced other customers as part of the launch group,” he had told Gulf News in an interview in Seattle in 2017.
Boeing 777X comes in two variations: the 777-8 and 777-9. The 777-8 has a seat capacity of between 350 and 375 passengers, while the other, the 777-9, can carry 400 to 425.
