Boeing 777-9 Set To Dominate The Dubai Air Show

Boeing 777-9 will make its first public debut at the Dubai Airshow. The Widebody Aircraft will make its first public appearance and will attend an airshow for the first time ever. Boeing will allow a closer look of the aircraft at the Dubai Airshow. The aviation geeks are very excited to have a look at the Boeing 777X, lets know more about the event.

The Boeing 777-9 was expected to be at the 2019 edition of the Dubai Airshow, but unfortunately due to an engine issue Beoing dropped the plan. The aircraft later took its first flight in January 2020. The 2021 Dubai Airshow will be the first significant airshow to take place since the aircraft’s first flight due to the pandemic canceling Farnborough last year and Paris this summer.

About The Boeing 777-9 First Appearance

As mentioned, the Boeing 777-9’s arrival at the Dubai Airshow will effectively be its first up-close appearance in public. There was an opportunity for members of the media and invited guests to see the aircraft from a distance at its first flight in January 2020. More recently, the plane completed a flying display at the Boeing Classic golf tournament in late August.

While some aircraft on display are fenced off, such as the aircraft brought by Airbus in 2019, it is possible to walk right up to others. This was the case with the 787 Dreamliner, which was brought last time, meaning that it will likely be possible to walk right up to the aircraft and see its features, such as the folding wingtips, up close. Hopefully, the jet will fly during the show, but this cannot be guaranteed, as flying schedules are usually published on the day. Dubai Airshow has listed the Boeing 777-9 as one of the attending aircraft.

Another highlight of the aircraft is its massive GE9x engines. The engines are almost as large as the fuselage of the Boeing 737. They have a diameter of 3.4 meters (11ft 2in). This compares to 9ft 8in (2.95m) on the Airbus A380’s Trent 900 engines.

In 2019, Boeing brought a 787 Dreamliner to the show. The aircraft had been wrapped in a complete vinyl livery to test how well this worked on its composite fuselage and was one of the show’s crowd-pleasers.

About the 13th Dubai Airshow

The 13th edition of the Dubai Airshow, which runs through Thursday, is to be held in the just opened Al-Maktoum International, the Gulf emirate’s second airport and touted to become the world’s biggest once completed.

With about 150 aircraft set for show on the desert tarmac and with 1,000 exhibitors, the airshow cements the Gulf region’s hard won position as the global hub for 21st century travel, spearheaded by booming airlines whose reach encompasses the world.

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways — the new generation of global airline players — are aggressively expanding their fleets making the Dubai Air Show one of the “top tier events in the aviation industry,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group consultancy.

“The three big Gulf carriers are taking advantage of great geography, easy access to cash, and strong brand management to grow, largely at the expense of European and Asian legacy carriers,” he said.

As ever, Airbus and Boeing will battle it out for orders in Dubai, but the latter will win out, said Christophe Menard, aeronautic expert at KelperCheuvreux investments house.

This year, Chicago-based Boeing will be launching the long-haul 777x, a lighter version of the classic 777 which has been an aviation bestseller since 1990.

The new-fangled 777-9 is meant to preempt the rise of the Airbus A350, a new fuel-efficient airliner that the European plane-maker hopes will help it become the world’s biggest plane producer within four or five years.

“The 777x and A350XWB are exactly what the market wants,” Aboulafia said, and “it’s imperative that Boeing make a strong counter-attack.”

The riposte by Boeing begins with Emirates Airline, whose chief executive Tim Clark told the Financial Times in October that his company intended to make a big order for the 777x, which the paper said could reach 175 units.

Expected Aircrafts at the Dubai Airshow

The Boeing 777X won’t be the only exciting aircraft at this year’s Dubai Airshow. The typical crowd-pleasers like the Emirates A380 and the Etihad Boeing 787 will be in attendance. However, it won’t just be the 777X making a debut at the show.

Etihad’s new Airbus A350-1000 is listed as attending this year’s show. Earlier this year, the airline’s CEO, Tony Douglas, revealed that he had already seen the aircraft’s new cabin, due to launch in 2022. With any luck, the airline will reveal the cabin at the show or just before, allowing attendees the chance to experience it before the A350’s introduction to service with Etihad.

Let us know what you think about the Boeing 777-9 and how excited are you for the Dubai AirShow.