(Article updated 20.08.2019)
The knock-on effects of problems with the 737 MAX and engine troubles with the 777X has seen Boeing push back estimated entry into service of the 777X. Projected first flights of the wide-body jet will now take place in 2020. Carriers affected by this delay are Emirates and Qatar Airways who, respectively, have ordered 35 and ten of the planes, though it was reported in the Seattle Times in June that Emirates were looking to renegotiate their 777X orders. With what would appear to be the freezing of engineering development work in the ultra-long-range version of the 777X, this could play nicely into the hands of Airbus and its ultra-long-range version of the A350-1000. Both Airbus and Boeing have submitted ‘best and final offers’ to Qantas to supply jets capable of flying 17,000km non-stop for the Australian carrier’s Sydney-to-London route.
