Boeing and General Electric (GE) Aerospace is to send a 777X test aircraft to Emirates, in order for the airline to test potential routes with the aircraft during 2024.
According to a Leeham News report, Boeing and GE Aerospace, the maker of the GE9X, will ship off a 777X-9 to Emirates, for the airline to use the wide-body aircraft for route proving. The folding wing-tip jet will spend about two months with the Dubai International Airport (DXB)-based airline. Stan Deal, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, has confirmed the route proving program at Emirates to Leeham News.
Currently, Boeing is working to certify the 777X with the United States (US) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). David Calhoun, the President and CEO of Boeing, said that there was a “big hanging issue” with the FAA and EASA disagreeing “on the certification principles and design principles that were embedded” during a Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in early June 2023.
However, the issues have now been resolved and were “documented”, so now, Boeing is “marching down the path”. Calhoun also reiterated that GE Aerospace, which builds the GE9X – the only engine option available for the 777X – now recognizes the problems with the engine, stating that the company’s “program to fix it is in place”.
“And I trust it,” added Calhoun.
The main executive of Boeing noted that the 777X should be certified in 2025.
Tim Clark, the President of Emirates, has criticized Boeing’s delays on the 777X program numerous times. In November 2022, Clark predicted that, by his estimation, the airline would get its first aircraft of the type in July 2025, adding that Boeing wants “to deliver by the end of 2024 or first quarter of 2025”.
“I said judging by their performance today, we make that July 2025. And Boeing Commercial CEO Stan Deal agreed,” continued Clark at the time. “But the aircraft is over five years late and, if it continues to be late, our patience will be truly tested,” he concluded.
In total, Emirates has 115 Boeing 777X on order.
