Qatar finalises repeat-order for 777F

Qatar Airways has finalised a firm order for four Boeing 777F Freighters. The airline also has purchase rights for four additional airplanes.

Qatar Airways announced the intent to order the four 777s at the 2014 Farnborough Airshow. Qatar already operates seven 777 Freighters.

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Kuwait Airways wants Boeing 777-300ER

Kuwait Airways has announced the intention to purchase 10 Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range) aircraft.

Boeing responds that it "appreciates the start of a new partnership with Kuwait Airways", but first wants to finalise the deal before it will post the order on its Orders & Deliveries website.

Kuwait Airways currently flies fifteen widebody aircraft, including two 777-200ERs, one 747-400, four Airbus A340s, three A310s and five A300s.

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Air Canada orders extra Boeing 777-300ERs

Air Canada has ordered two additional 777-300ER (Extended Range) airplanes. The order was previously listed as unidentified on Boeing’s Orders & Deliveries website.

Air Canada currently operates 23 777s, including 17 777-300ERs and six 777-200LRs (Long Range).

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100th Boeing 777-300ER for Emirates

Emirates Airline has taken delivery of its 100th Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range). Emirates has now 142 777s in operation and is the only airline in the world to operate all 777 variants.

China Airlines receives first Boeing 777-300ER

China Airlines of Taiwan has taken delivery of its first Boeing 777-300ER. The airline has ten of the aircraft type on order.

China Airlines introduces a new, state-of-the-art cabin interior onboard its 777-300ER designed by award-winning Taiwanese architect Ray Chen. The airline configured its 777-300ER to seat 358 passengers in a three-class layout highlighted by new 'Family Couch' seats in economy class, where three seats convert into a flat surface for rest and relaxation.

China Airlines will launch operations of its first 777-300ER to Hong Kong in October and will introduce the airplane on transpacific routes, connecting Taipei with major cities in North America, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

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First Boeing 777-300ER for China Eastern

Boeing today delivered the first Boeing 777-300ER to China Eastern Airlines. The aircraft is the first of 20 777-300ERs China Eastern has on order. The new airplane is also the first with a new livery for the airline, with much white and an updated logo - a swallow consisting of two capital letters, C and E, which represent the carrier’s name.

Cathay to phase out A340s and 747s

Hong Kong's all-widebody-operator Cathay Pacific is to phase out part of its fleet of Boeing 747-400s and all of its A340-300s in 2016 and 2017, as part of its fleet renewal plan. The airline announced that it intends to sell six of its B747-400Fs back to Boeing with four of them already parked. Four passenger 747-400s are also to be retired with two of them having been withdrawn from service this month.

Boeing delivers 500th 777-300ER

This week, on July 29, Boeing delivered the 500th 777-300ER built, to Emirates. It took Boeing only ten years to build that number of aircraft. The -300ER is the best-selling version of the Triple Seven.

The 777-300ER program was launched in the year 2000 with an order for ten aircraft from Air France. On February 24, 2003, the -300ER took off for its maiden flight, and it was certified by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) on March 16, 2004. Air France received its first aircraft on April 29, 2004.

What price a Boeing widebody jet?

Want to buy an aircraft? A widebody aircraft in particular? What do you think how much that costs? Boeing recently adapted its catalogue prices 3.1 per cent upwards, and that is almost twice the level of price "correction" last year.

You go for the biggest and most advanced? Boeing's most expensive jet is the 777-9X twin-engined airliner (see image). That costs 388.7 million dollar (290 million euro). If you prefer a four-engined 747-8I Intercontinental with more engines and more space, then you pay less, "only" 367.8 million dollar.

ANA buys 40 Boeing widebodies

Boeing has sold 40 widebody airliners to All Nippon Airways: 20 777-9Xs, 14 787-9 Dreamliners and six 777-300ERs (Extended Range). The order was originally announced as a commitment in March.

ANA, the launch customer of the 787, becomes the world's largest customer for the Dreamliner with a total of 80 airplanes ordered. The airline currently operates 29 787s with 51 more to deliver, including 43 787-9s.

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Malaysia Boeing 777 crashes in Ukraine

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 has crashed in Ukraine. Flight MH17 was enroute from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down. There were 295 people onboard; 280 passengers and 15 crew members.

Malaysia Airlines announced via Twitter that Ukranian ATC lost contact with flight MH17 at 14.15 (GMT) not far from the Russia-Ukraine border. The aircraft departed from Amsterdam Airport at 12.15 pm (local time). It was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport the next day at 6.10 am (local time). The aircraft crashed in an area with frequent rocket attacks in recent days because of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. It is not clear whether the airliner was shot down.

Malaysia Airlines lost another Boeing 777 on March 8, 2014. This aircraft disappeared over the south Indian Ocean on flight MH370 to China. The wreck still has not been found and all 241 people aboard are presumed to have died.

Malaysia airlines operates thirteen Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. The crashed aircraft, 9M-MRD, was delivered to the airline in July 1997.

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Qatar Airways firms order for 50 Boeing 777-9Xs

Qatar Airways has finalized an order for 50 Boeing 777-9X aircraft. The order was first announced as a commitment at the 2013 Dubai Airshow. In addition, the airline announced a commitment for 50 additional 777-9X purchase rights. If exercised, that would take Qatar's 777X order tally to 100 airplanes. Qatar Airways also announced their intent to order four 777 Freighters and options for four more.

Leasing companu MG Aviation also finalized a 787-9 Dreamliner deal, for two aircraft. The company has a total of four 787-9s on order now.

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Passenger must feel in 777X like in 787

Boeing is to build the 777X with basically the "old"' fuselage of the earlier Triple Seven versions. But it also wants to offer passengers the comfort level they experience on the 787 Dreamliner. At Farnborough Boeing announced a number of advances for the 777X interior compared to the current 777.

Among the changes are:
- A cabin pressure like at an altitude of 6,000 feet, what is comparable to the 787 Dreamliner.
- Larger windows, which are located higher on the fuselage so they're at eye level for a larger percentage of passengers.
- Increased ambient light made possible by the larger, newly positioned windows.
- All-new interior design that allows airlines to customize their cabin architectures by class. This innovation includes an adaptable suite of parts that facilitates choices in overhead ceiling and stow bin configurations, allowing airlines to create the feeling of separate and distinct cabins that meet both airline and passenger needs.
- Higher cabin humidity, comparable to the 787 Dreamliner.
- Enhanced air filtration, incorporating the latest filtration technologies.
- Next-generation LED lighting.
- Lower cabin noise, achieved through the new engine nacelle design, new high bypass ratio engines, better insulation and a passenger cabin that doubles the number of air nozzles with lower velocity and less noise.

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Leasing companies buy 22 Boeing widebodies

Boeing has sold a total of 22 widebody airliners to three aircraft lease companies. The contracts were announced at the Farnborough Air Show.

The US aircraft manufacturer sold six 777-300ER (Extended Range) to Air Lease Corporation. The 777-300ER order marks the 100th 777 order from ALC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy during his career in the industry. Air Lease Corporation also ordered 20 737 MAX 8 narrowbodies.

Another leasing company, Intrepid Aviation, signed its first direct Boeing order for six 777-300ERs. Intrepid also took the option to purchase an additional four 777s. Intrepid Aviation is a privately held commercial aircraft lessor, which owns commercial aircraft leased to airline operators worldwide. Intrepid Aviation focuses primarily on twin-engine widebody equipment, such as the Boeing 787 and 777.

The CIT Group Inc., a global leader in transportation finance, announced that CIT Aerospace has placed an order for ten 787-9 Dreamliners. The order brings the leasing company's total 787 orders to 20, including 16 787-9s.

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Robots to build Boeing 777 fuselages

Boeing announced that it is working on a new method for building 777 fuselages. The process is named 'Fuselage Automated Upright Build' (FAUB) and improves workplace safety and increases product quality. Boeing is developing the new technology since 2012.

Fuselage sections will be built using automated, guided robots that will fasten the panels of the fuselage together, drilling and filling the more than approximately 60,000 fasteners that are today installed by hand.

FAUB offers numerous benefits including an improvement in employee safety. The nature of the drilling and filling work makes it ideal for an automated solution. More than half of all injuries on the 777 program have occurred during the phase of production that is being automated. In addition, the automated system is expected to reduce build times and improve first-time quality of the build process.

"This is the first time such technology will be used by Boeing to manufacture widebody commercial airplanes and the 777 program is leading the way," said Elizabeth Lund, vice president and general manager, 777 program and Everett site, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We're excited to continue improving the production process here and we're positioning ourselves to begin building 777X airplanes in the future."

The 777 program has already begun testing FAUB at a facility in Anacortes, Wash. Production readiness preparations are underway and the system will be installed in Everett in a new portion of the main factory that is under construction now. The technology is expected to be implemented in the next few years.

The robotic system, designed for Boeing by KUKA Systems, is the latest in a series of strategic Advanced Manufacturing moves on the 777 program, which have already included new systems for painting wings and other drilling operations.

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