Fourth Boeing 777X Makes its First Flight

It's the anniversary of the the new Boeing 777X making its first flight. On Monday 25th January 2020 the fourth new 777X took off from Paine Field Seattle airport at 10.08.

The plane is the world’s largest and most efficient twin-engine jet, unmatched in every aspect of performance. 

The plane now joins her three 777X stablemates outside Seattle while cabin systems and extended operations get thoroughly run through before the aircraft type begins flying paying passengers in 2022.

According to Boeing "With new breakthroughs in aerodynamics and engines, the 777X will deliver 10 percent lower fuel use and emissions and 10 percent lower operating costs than the competition. 

The 777X offers low-risk, profitable growth, industry-leading reliability and seamless integration with the 777 and 787 Dreamliner families for even more flexibility. 

But performance is just part of the story, with a spacious, wide cabin, new custom architecture and innovations from the 787 Dreamliner, the 777X will deliver the flight experience of the future".

The 777X has folding wing tips. The longer wings allow for more efficient in-flight operations, and folding them on the ground means it can access more airports.

The 777X is closer to the capacity of some four-engine aircraft. The A340-600 (the largest A340 variant) offers a two-class capacity of 440. The 747-8 has a typical three-class capacity of 467. 

The capacity and distance gap between four and two engine aircraft has been narrowing for some time. With ETOPS improvements, there are limited areas that twins cannot fly. And with engine improvements, larger airframes are achieving higher capacities.

The GE9X engine used on the 777X is bigger than the 737 fuselage

See video covering of the flight of the 777X here