Emirates Airline is waiting to deliver 170 Boeing 777-9s and 35 B777-8s. CEO Tim Clark assumes that the first unit cannot be taken over before 2026. He suspects that the manufacturer will not be able to meet the schedule again.

The B777X program has been plagued by delays for some time. The causes are of various nature. In any case, airlines like Emirates are already eagerly awaiting this pattern, which is primarily intended to serve modernization and expansion. According to a report from Reuters News, Tim Clark does not expect the first unit to be delivered to the carrier he leads by the end of 2025, but more likely during 2026.

Emirates Airline was the first major customer for the program and ordered the aircraft back in 2014. At that time, Boeing promised that the first example could be used commercially from 2020. So far there have been several delays. Clark suspects that the stringent reviews carried out by the FAA in the wake of the recent B737 Max 9 incident that occurred at Alaska Airlines in early January 2024 will once again delay the schedule.

In addition to Emirates Airline, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Air India and All Nippon Airways will also be affected by the possible upcoming postponement of the first delivery. There are also 31 orders in Boeing's backlog that are currently managed anonymously. 43 orders for the B777-8 and 355 for the B777-9 have been specifically identified.