Boeing delivers first 747-8 with performance-improved engines

By BA Staff

Boeing image

Boeing delivered the first 747-8 with performance-improved GEnx-2B engines as part of the airplane's Performance Improvement Package (PIP.)

A Cathay Pacific Airways Cargo 747-8F Freighter was the first aircraft delivered with the new PIP engines.

The engine is the first of the package's three improvements to enter service. The two other components, Flight Management Computer (FMC) software upgrades and reactivation of the horizontal tank fuel system on the passenger version, the 747-8 Intercontinental, are expected to enter service later this month and in early 2014, respectively.

The PIP engine improves the airplane's efficiency by 1.8 percent. All three PIP components can be retrofitted on the 747-8. The tail fuel reactivation is applicable only for the 747-8 Intercontinental and the FMC upgrades can also be made to existing 747-400s.

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Video: Another Times of India miraculous escape? A late go-around by a large Boeing 747-400F freighter

by Devesh Agarwal

I wonder how Times of India, and other sensationalist media in India would classify this late go-around at Amsterdam Schipol airport? Another "miraculous escape"?

Keep in mind the aircraft doing these acrobatic manoeuvres is a 350 ton Boeing 747-400F freighter of AirBridge Cargo registration VP-BIK.

Approaching in extreme cross wind conditions, the pilot decides at the very last minute that landing is not comfortable and opts for a go-around. Observe how smoothly the giant aircraft is handled and taken away from the runway.



A few minutes later, the pilot comes back for a second landing and nails it.

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Can you spot the faux pas on British Airways' Boeing 747-400 fleet information website?

by Devesh Agarwal

As I type this post, I am laughing my rear-end off. Christmas week is fun and frolic and I guess British Airways is thinking of combining the holiday cheer with April Fool's Day.

See below the screen capture taken today at 18:31 (13:00 GMT) from British Airways' website offering fleet information on the Boeing 747-400.

Screen capture of British Airways website showing fleet information on their Boeing 747-400

Can you figure out the faux pas made by one of the world's oldest airlines? Share your observation via a comment?

Need a clue? Think of how to improve fuel efficiency.
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Still not sure? Looks like BA engineers have managed to get their 747s equipped with just two engines instead of the normal four.

Reminds me of the article on Kingfisher's four engined wide-body A320.

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Cathay Pacific become first Asia Pacific airline to order Boeing 777-9X

by Devesh Agarwal

Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER in special livery.

Long time Boeing customer, Cathay Pacific Airways become the first Asia-Pacific airline to order the new 777-9X. The Hong Kong based carrier has placed an order for 21 of the mini-jumbo long haul aircraft valued at $7 million at list prices. The 777X program created waves in the industry last month, when it garnered a whopping 259 orders and commitments valued at over $95 billion at the Dubai air show.

Hong Kong's flag carrier operates 55 777s, including 38 777-300ERs and an all-Boeing freighter fleet that includes 13 747-8F Freighters. Like the 777-300ER, there is only the General Electric GE9X engine option for the 777-9X.

The GE9X engine for Boeing's 777X family will be in the 100,000-pound thrust class with a 10 percent improvement in fuel burn over today's GE90-115B. Key features of the new engine include, the industry’s largest front fan, composite fan case and fourth-generation composite fan blades, highest pressure ratio compressor for any large GE engine, third-generation TAPS (twin annular pre-swirl) combustor for greater efficiency and low emissions, and ceramic matrix composite (CMC) material in the combustor and turbine.

Image courtesy Cathay Pacific Airways

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KLM improves its business class

By BA Staff

KLM, the Royal Dutch Airline has upgraded its business class and now provides fully flat beds on its daily 747 flights from New Delhi to Amsterdam.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Yeshwant Pawar, General Manager South Asia said

“KLM continues to invest in customer comfort across the world as this has been our top most priority. The guiding principle to introduce fully flat beds is a step towards enhancing customer comfort and privacy as befits KLM. The new full-flat seat also plays an important role in helping to strengthen our position as a preferred airline in the Indian market.”

The new 180 degree horizontally reclining seats in the World Business Class are longer with 2.07 meters in length, wider with 63 inches in pitch. Every seat has an integrated 17 inch video monitor for in-flight entertainment. There is in-seat power and also storage compartments in the seat behind the passenger as well as under the television screen.

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Air Canada signs agreement to buy up to 109 Boeing 737 MAXs

by Devesh Agarwal

Boeing 737 MAX 9 final concept CGI rendering. Boeing image.

National carrier Air Canada has agreed to buy up to 109 Boeing 737 MAX single aisle narrow body aircraft as part of its fleet renewal plan. Boeing has wrested back an existing Airbus narrow-body customer as the MAXs will replace Air Canada's existing mainline fleet of Airbus A320 family.

The agreement with Boeing, which is subject to completion of final documentation and other conditions, includes firm orders for 33 737 MAX 8 (equivalent to A320) and 28 737 MAX 9 (equivalent to A321) aircraft with substitution rights between them as well as for the 737 MAX 7 (equivalent to A319) aircraft. It also provides for options for 18 aircraft and rights to purchase an additional 30. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2017 with 2 aircraft, 16 aircraft in 2018, 18 aircraft in 2019, 16 aircraft in 2020 and 9 aircraft in 2021, subject to deferral and acceleration rights.

With regards to the existing regional jets fleet, the airline said

Air Canada continues to evaluate the potential replacement of its Embraer E190 fleet with more cost efficient, larger narrowbody aircraft that are better suited to its current and future network strategy. Consistent with this strategy, the agreement with Boeing provides for Boeing to purchase up to 20 of the 45 Embraer E190 aircraft currently in Air Canada's fleet. The E190 aircraft exiting the fleet will be initially replaced with larger narrowbody leased aircraft until the airline takes delivery of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The company will be reviewing various options over the next six months for the remaining 25 Embraer E190 aircraft including continuing to operate them or replacing them with a yet to be determined number of aircraft in the 100 to 150 seat range.

Air Canada's plan is for its total fleet including Air Canada rouge™, but excluding aircraft flown by its contracted regional carriers, to grow from the existing 192 aircraft to approximately 214 aircraft by the end of 2019. Air Canada has 13 options and rights to purchase 10 Boeing 787 aircraft, rights to purchase 13 Boeing 777 aircraft as well as the 18 options and 30 purchase rights for Boeing MAX aircraft.

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Boeing commences wind tunnel testing of 777X

Boeing has commenced low-speed wind tunnel tests for its 777X aircraft. Testing is being performed on a 5% scale model of the baseline 777X, measuring about 4.22 meters (166 inches) long with a wing span of 3.92 meters (154 inches). Hundreds of sensors are embedded in the model to measure pressure to determine the in-flight loads as well as provide valuable diagnostics of the aerodynamic performance of a given design.

These tests will measure airplane performance with a variety of settings to simulate take-off and landing conditions.

This is the first major milestone in airplane development, which validates performance models and generates a vast amount of data that Boeing's engineering teams will use to design the airplane as development progresses.

Testing started on December 5th at QinetiQ's test facility in Farnborough, United Kingdom, and is expected to last approximately five months. Testing also will be conducted next year at the Boeing Transonic Wind Tunnel in Seattle to further validate 777X high-speed performance projections.

Boeing indicates its on track to complete the top-level design in 2014 and reach firm configuration in 2015.

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Qatar Airways announces new route to Edinburgh

By BA Staff

Qatar Airways will begin five flights weekly to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh effective 28 May 2014.

The new route will be served by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a two-cabin configuration, offering passengers 22 Business Class and 232 Economy Class seats.

QR 027 departs Doha (DOH) at 08:00 on all days except Tuesdays and Thursdays and arrives Edinburgh (EDI) at 13:15
QR 028 departs Edinburgh (EDI) at 14:45 on all days except Tuesdays and Thursdays and arrives Doha (DOH) at 23:40

In 2013, Qatar Airways has launched eleven destinations to date – Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Najaf (Iraq), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Chicago (USA), Salalah (Oman), Basra (Iraq), Sulaymaniyah (Iraq), Chengdu (China), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Ta’if (Saudi Arabia) and most recently Clark Manila International Airport (Philippines).

Over the next few weeks and months, the airline will expand its network with services to Hangzhou, China (December 20, 2013), Sharjah and Dubai World Central, both in the UAE (March 1, 2014), Philadelphia, USA (April 2, 2014) and Miami, USA (June 10, 2014).

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Boeing and Korean Air commence construction of new aviation training facility

By BA Staff

Boeing participated in a groundbreaking ceremony with Incheon and Korean Air for construction of Korea's largest new aviation training facility to be located in Incheon's Free Economic Zone (IFEZ).

The new campus, which is slated to open in 2015, will allow Boeing to expand the scope of its training business in Korea and continue its long-standing training relationship with Korean Air.

The facility, once complete, will house 12 full-flight simulators for pilot training programs supporting Korean Air's flight training needs.
Once the campus is complete, Boeing will relocate its existing training support staff and equipment to the new facility.

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Boeing, TUI travel PLC complete order for two 787-8s

By BA Staff

Boeing and TUI Travel, one of the world's leading leisure travel companies, have completed an order for two 787-8 Dreamliners. The deal, worth $424 million at current list prices, extends TUI Travel's 787 commitment to 15 airplanes. The purchase was originally attributed on the Boeing orders and deliveries website to an unidentified customer.

 TUI took delivery of its first 787-8 Dreamliner in May and now has four airplanes in service.

TUI Travel originally ordered the 787 in February 2005. Currently, the Group's subsidiary Thomson Airways is using the airplane on such routes as Thailand, Caribbean and the Maldives.

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Boeing subsidiary Spectrolab sets new solar cell efficiency world record

By BA Staff

Boeing subsidiary Spectrolab recently set a new world record by producing a solar cell that converted 38.8% of solar energy into electricity, more than any other ground-based solar cell not using concentrated sunlight.

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., verified the new record, which beats Spectrolab’s own previous world record by one per cent.

Spectrolab manufactured the high-efficiency multi-junction solar cell, which was developed from new Boeing semiconductor bonding technology. This solar cell technology could be used to power high-power spacecraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

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Video - Boeing updates on 737 MAX

Boeing has put together this nice compact tongue in cheek video update on the 737 MAX. Enjoy the weekend. Comments are welcome as always.

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Boeing selects Bombardier business jet for maritime surveillance aircraft program

By BA Staff

Boeing has selected Bombardier's Challenger 605 business jet as the platform for its Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) program.

Tim Peters, Boeing vice president and general manager, Mobility, Surveillance and Engagement, said at the Dubai Airshow:

"The Challenger 605 is an ideal platform to host MSA's mission system, sensors and communications equipment. It also provides the power, payload capacity, range, speed and endurance that our customers tell us they need for missions such as anti-piracy; coastal and border security; and long-range search and rescue."

Boeing team-mate Field Aviation will modify the Challenger 605's structure and air vehicle systems into the MSA configuration.

Peters said:

"Field Aviation has extensive experience engineering and modifying the Challenger family of aircraft for a variety of missions, including maritime surveillance."

Field Aviation is currently modifying a Boeing-owned Challenger 604 jet into an MSA demonstrator aircraft that will complete ground and flight testing of the mission systems and be presented to potential customers in 2014.

MSA incorporates technologies developed for the P-8A Poseidon, the U.S. Navy’s newest anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance system based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane.  

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Boeing, flydubai announce historic single-aisle agreement

By BA Staff

Boeing and flydubai announced a commitment for up to 100 737 MAX 8 airplanes and 11 Next-Generation 737-800s at the Dubai Airshow.

The commitment from the airline of the emirate of Dubai, valued at $11.4 billion at list prices (including orders and purchase rights), is the largest ever Boeing single-aisle airplane purchase in the Middle East. flydubai operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet.

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of flydubai said:

"flydubai is pleased to continue its partnership with Boeing. We believe that the commitment for up to 111 Boeing 737 aircraft will give flydubai one of the best performing aircraft available in the single-aisle market. This will ensure that flydubai is well positioned to continue to set new standards in aviation and support the further economic development of the United Arab Emirates."

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said:

"We are extremely proud of the confidence that flydubai continues to place in our products operating an all-Boeing fleet. We look forward to continue strengthening our partnership and seeing the Next-Generation 737-800 and subsequently the 737 MAX play a central role in flydubai's rapid expansion plans."

flydubai placed its first order for 50 Next-Generation 737-800s in 2008. The airline took delivery of its first airplane in 2009 and was the first airline in the world to debut the Boeing Sky Interior. To date, flydubai has taken delivery of 33 Next-Generation 737-800s. In the past two years, flydubai has more than doubled the number of destinations it flies to and has around 1,200 weekly flights. flydubai carried 5.1 million passengers in 2012 and has become the second largest carrier, by passenger numbers, operating out of Dubai International, after big brother and fellow group company Emirates airline.

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Boeing and GOL Airlines to collaborate on aviation biofuels in Brazil

By BA Staff

Boeing and Brazil's GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. will work together to speed the research, development and approval of new sources of sustainable aviation biofuel in Brazil. Their collaboration will support GOL's plans to use this lower-carbon jet fuel on more flights during upcoming major sporting events and also will benefit long-term development of a new sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil.

Paulo Sergio Kakinoff, chief executive officer of GOL, and Van Rex Gallard, vice president of Sales for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, signed a memorandum of understanding for biofuel collaboration at the Latin America and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) Airline Leaders Forum 2013.

Paulo Kakinoff, chief executive officer for GOL said:

"Because of its continuous improvements in technology that result in ever-lower fuel consumption, the Boeing Next Generation 737 is the only airplane that GOL flies. Boeing's focus on fuel efficiency helps us all operate in a more sustainable fashion, and the expansion of our partnership with this new project will further advance the effort to expand biofuel use in Brazil. It also will serve as an example to the world of what is possible today and in years to come. Boeing is very pleased to work with GOL on this key project to advance the use and availability of biofuels. As Brazil's leading low-cost carrier, GOL is showing great leadership in its efforts to conduct lower-carbon flights."

GOL plans to use biojetfuel on 200 flights during the major sporting event in Brazil in 2014 and to incorporate biofuel into 20 percent of its flights during the Olympics taking place in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

On Oct. 23, Brazil's Aviator's Day, GOL conducted Brazil's first commercial biofuel flight in a Boeing 737-800 powered in part by sustainable aviation biofuel made from waste cooking oil and blended by Petrobras, with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Following the flight, aviation industry stakeholders including GOL and Boeing, as well as Brazilian officials and research institutions, announced a national effort called the Brazilian Biojetfuel Platform to establish a sustainable biojetfuel industry with research and development in several regions of the country. If the Platform is successful, Brazil, which has already established a biofuel industry could be the first nation to establish a sustainable aviation biofuel industry from biomass production to flight.

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Aviation Week honors Boeing programs for excellence

By BA Staff

The Boeing P-8A Poseidon program and F-15 logistics program were recognized for their success at Aviation Week & Space Technology's Program Excellence award ceremony held Nov. 14 in Phoenix.

The P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft program won the System Level Production category, while the F-15 fighter jet Radar Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) program was a finalist in the Sub-System Sustainment category.

Aviation Week's awards recognize management, leadership, best practices, benchmarking and other factors that make aerospace and defense programs successful.

Jean Chamberlin, vice president of Boeing Defense, Space & Security Program Management and a member of the Aviation Week Program Excellence evaluation team said:

"These nominees represent the 'best in class' when it comes to exceptional leadership and program performance, particularly when we reflect upon how far we have come since the first awards in 2005. I am proud of the improvement these programs demonstrated in customer and supply chain integration and collaboration. It is an honor to be recognized by our industry and government partners."

The U.S. Navy has called P-8A the most successful major Department of Defense acquisition program in the past 30 years. The program exceeds requirements and has achieved every major milestone to date.

Rick Heerdt, Boeing vice president and P-8 program manager said:

"We're lucky to have a great partner – the U.S. Navy – on the P-8A program, and the entire industry team deserves credit for this award,"

The F-15 Radar CLS PBL program with the U.S. Air Force provides total system support to the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar weapon system. The AESA system gives warfighters the capability to simultaneously detect, track, and engage multiple targets.

Kevin Pennington, F-15 Radar CLS program manager said:

"The PBL approach allows Boeing the ability to optimize radar system availability and performance. Ensuring radar availability provides greater situational awareness and decreased workload with increased survivability." 

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Boeing launches 777X program - images and video

by Devesh Agarwal

Boeing 777-9X. Boeing image.

The Dubai Airshow is known for releasing multi-billion dollar orders from the major Gulf carriers, and yesterday was no exception.

Boeing was the clear winner on day one of the show, and the star was the yet to be commenced Boeing 777X program which is an upgrade of the already ultra-popular Boeing 777 twin engine wide body jetliner which today commands 71% of the in-service fleet worldwide.

Video at the end of the story

Despite receiving a order for 34 777-9X from German carrier Lufthansa two months ago, Boeing formally launched the 777X program at the 2013 Dubai Airshow, in deference to its largest 777 customer, Dubai-based Emirates airline, whose CEO, Tim Clark, has been the biggest demander of the new aircraft. (Watch a video of Tim Clark talking about wide body aircraft including the 777X).

Reflecting customer faith in the yet to be developed aircraft, Boeing took in orders and commitments for a whopping 225 aircraft, racking up its tally to 259, making the 777X, the largest product launch in commercial jetliner history by value.

Boeing image

Boeing received orders and commitments from Etihad Airways with 25 77X aircraft (17 777-9X and 8 777-8X), Qatar Airways with 50 777-9X; and Emirates with 150 777X (115 777-9X and 35 777-8X), with an option for 50 more. The combined value of the agreements is more than $95 billion at list prices.

The consistent large orders from the Gulf majors is not unexpected. As Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates, explained

"In recent years, much of the action in global aviation has shifted to the Middle East because countries like the U.A.E. and Qatar have tapped into our geographical advantage to build new air transport connections for the world,"

The 777X will build on the market leading 777 and will introduce new technologies in multiple places. A new composite wing similar to the 787 Dreamliner and 747-8 Jumbo will feature folding raked wingtips, allowing the new plane to fit into existing gates at airports. The new GE9X is touted as the most advanced commercial engine ever. Giving airlines what they desire most, lower seat-mile costs.

Mini-jumbo battle

Boeing 777-9X and 777-8X CGI. Boeing image.

The existing 777-300ER (77W) will be upgraded to the 777-9X with a list price of $377.2 million, an expected entry in to service (EIS) date of 2020, range of 8,200 nm (15,185 km), and passenger capacity of 406. The 777-200LR will be upgraded to the ultra-long-haul (ULH) 777-8X with a list price of $349.8 million, an EIS about 18 months after the -9X, range of 9,300 nm (17,220 km), and passenger capacity of 350 which is close to that of the existing 777-300ER.

The "mini-jumbo" segment is hotly contested, pitting the 777X against the A350 XWB from European major, Airbus.

While Boeing claims "the 777-8X competes directly with the A350-1000, while the 777-9X is in a class by itself", Airbus counters saying Boeing has driven up passenger numbers to justify operating economics using the ultra-dense 17 inch width seating, as practised by Emirates and Etihad, when compared to the wider 18 inch seat width used by Airbus to arrive at its 350 seat A350-1000, which is due to enter service in 2017.

Video of 777X

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Dubai Airshow 2013 starts with record breaking orders

As expected the Dubai Airshow opened today with a record breaking order book.

Within three hours of opening, the show’s order tally reached US $162.6 billion – surpassing its previous record of US $155 billion record set in 2007 – with deals coming from Etihad Airways, Emirates Airline, flydubai and Qatar Airways.

The opening order came from Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways which announced a deal for 56 new Boeing 777s valued at US$25.2 billion at list prices, including related GE engines. The deal also sees Etihad become the launch customer for the 777-8X which is expected to enter service in 2022.

The airline also ordered 30 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, making Etihad the largest customer for the composite aircraft.

James Hogan, President and CEO, Etihad Airways said

“We rarely make announcements at air shows, but when we do the world listens,”

Dubai-headquartered Emirates Airline rapidly re-wrote the Dubai Airshow record with news of a US$99 billion purchase of Boeing and Airbus planes – which industry experts dubbed the largest-ever aircraft order in civil aviation.

The Emirates headline deal was for 150 Boeing 777X, plus 50 purchase rights, and an additional 50 Airbus A380 superjumbos - of which Emirates is currently the largest fleet operator.

Low-cost airline FlyDubai weighed in with a US$11.4 billion order for 111 Boeing 737s and 738s, and then Qatar Airways topped off the morning’s historic agreements with the signing of a US$19 billion letter of intent for 54 Boeing 777s.

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Boeing forecasts $550 billion market in Middle East for new airplanes

By BA Staff

Boeing forecasts that airlines in the Middle East will require 2,610 new airplanes over the next 20 years, worth an estimated $550 billion. While one-third of that demand – 900 airplanes – will replace today's fleets, 66 percent of the demand is expected to be driven by the rapid fleet expansion in the region.

According to the Boeing Current Market Outlook (CMO), long-range, twin-aisle airplanes – such as the Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner – will continue to dominate the Middle East's order books.

Randy Tinseth, Vice President of Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes said:

"International traffic growth in the Middle East continues to outpace the rest of the world. The Gulf region benefits from a unique geographic position that enables one-stop connectivity between Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Additionally, over the last decade, we've seen a rise in low-cost carriers that have benefitted from a large youthful population, large migrant workforce and trends toward market liberalization."

According to the Boeing forecast, twin-aisle aircraft will account for more than half of the region's new airplane deliveries over the 20-year period – as compared to 24 percent globally. Single-aisle airplanes, such as the Boeing 737, will make up 47 percent of regional deliveries through to 2032, while large airplanes such as the Boeing 747 will account for 10 percent of forecasted demand. Regional jets account for the remaining 1 percent of the demand.

Tinseth said:

"Boeing is well-positioned to address demand in the Middle East. Boeing airplanes provide airlines in the region with the capability to serve their expanding networks, the comfort and flexibility for a premium brand experience and the superior operating economics to create advantages not only for the airlines, but the flying public as well."

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Etihad kicks off Dubai airshow with mamomth Boeing 777-9X, 777-8X and 787-10 order

by Devesh Agarwal

From top, clockwise, Boeing CGI of Etihad 787-10, 777-8X, 777-9X

United Arab Emirates' (UAE) national carrier, Etihad Airways PJSC, kicked off the Dubai Air Show with a massive order for 56 wide-body Boeing aircraft with options to purchase for an additional 26 aircraft taking the quantity up to 82 at a list price valuation of $25.2 billion.

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier's order includes 25 777X airplanes, comprising 17 777-9Xs and eight 777-8Xs, subject to program launch. Etihad Airways is the first airline to order the 777-8X and will be a launch customer of the airplane, which is expected to enter service around the end of the decade. The order includes options and purchase rights for 12 additional 777X airplanes.

The airline also ordered 30 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, the high-capacity, medium-haul, and longest member of the Dreamliner family. Combined with the carrier's previous orders for 41 787-9s, today's order makes Etihad the world's largest airline customer for the Dreamliner family with a total of 71 787s on order. The order includes options and purchase rights for an additional 12 787-10s.

Today’s announcement also includes the milestone 1,000th Boeing 787 Dreamliner to be ordered.

Etihad also ordered one Boeing 777F freighter which is based on the 777-200LR.

The 777X is the upgrade of the venerable Boeing 777 family featuring new composite wings as seen on the 747-8 and 787 family aircraft, along with new GEnx engines which GE promises will be about 10% more fuel efficient. The 777X

The Boeing 777-9X is a stretched, more fuel-efficient version of Boeing ultra-popular 777-300ER. Typically seating 400 passengers, the 777-9X will be capable of flying the same distances as its predecessor, but with up to 40 more passengers, with lower operating costs and reduced fuel consumption per seat. The 777-9X was launched less than two months ago with an order from German flag carrier Lufthansa. Eithad is expected to start receiving its 777-9X from 2020.

The Boeing 777-8X is an upgraded version of the ultra long-haul Boeing 777-200LR, which Etihad recently purchased from Indian flag carrier Air India, to serve the Abu Dhabi – Los Angeles route. The -8X will replace the LRs when the start arriving in 2022. [Read our analysis on why the 777-200LR is ill-suited to Air India's operations]

The Boeing 787-10 is the largest and latest version of the Dreamliner family, typically carrying more than 320 passengers, up to 50 more than the 787-9 which Etihad Airways will introduce late in 2014. The aircraft will be capable of flying between Abu Dhabi and medium-haul destinations such as Dublin or Johannesburg, and it is expected to be deployed on high capacity medium haul routes by the airline. Final assembly and flight test of the 787-10 are set to begin in 2017, with first delivery targeted for 2018. Boeing launched the 787-10 earlier this year, at the Paris Air Show.

All the aircraft in this order will be powered by General Electric GE9X, GEnx and GE90 engines. Etihad ordered 57 GE9X engines which will power Etihad Airways’ 25 new Boeing 777X aircraft, 68 GEnx-1B engines for the airline’s 30 new Boeing 787-10 aircraft, and two GE90-115B engines which will be used on its new Boeing 777-200F freighter.

Etihad Airways currently has 86 aircraft in operation, with more than 80 aircraft on firm order. Its last major aircraft deal was made at the Farnborough Air Show in 2008, where Etihad Airways announced firm orders for 100 aircraft, including 45 Boeing aircraft, in a long-term order which was at the time one of the largest in aviation history.

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