Emirates now the B777X launch operator

Emirates (EK, Dubai Int'l) is set to become the B777-9's launch operator having assumed the role from Lufthansa, the Gulf News has reported quoting a Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) executive.

“Emirates is now actually ahead of its original mid-2020 schedule to receive its first 777X aircraft,” Marty Bentrott, Boeing’s Vice-President (Sales - Middle East, Turkey, Russia, and Central Asia) said, adding that the programme is tracking ahead of schedule.

First announced as a commitment at the 2013 Dubai Airshow, Emirates' B777X order was subsequently firmed in 2014. Of the 150 jets, 115 are B777-9s and thirty-five are B777-8s. The Dubai-based carrier holds options for a further fifty aircraft of the type.

The B777-9 is expected to make its commercial debut in 2020. Together with the B777-8, the aircraft will be used to replace Emirates' existing B777 fleet which currently entails 136 B777-300(ER)s and ten B777-200(LR)s.