Boeing 777 Reaches 1,000Th Milestone Faster Than Any Twin-Aisle Airlplane

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- Boeing and more than 5,000 employees, suppliers, customers and government officials celebrated the 1,000th 777 at a special event on March 2. The 1,000th 777 jetliner will be delivered to Dubai-based Emirates later this month, the aircraft manufacturer said in a statement from Everett. "As the largest 777 customer, it's very appropriate that Emirates is the recipient of our milestone 1,000th 777," said Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Emirates has set an industry high bar in providing excellent customer service and we're honored that the 777 is central to its efforts to be a global airline leader," he added. Last year was the best year on record for 777 sales with 200 orders from 22 customers – topping the previous record of 154 set in 2005. Production is at an all-time high for the programme and a 20 per cent rate increase begins this fall - from seven to 8.3 airplanes per month. The programme will begin building 100 airplanes per year beginning in 2013. Emirates is the 777 program’s largest customer with 102 now in its fleet and 84 passenger airplanes and nine freighters on order. Emirates is the only airline that operates all six members of the 777 family. "Emirates is honored to be the recipient of Boeing’s 1000th 777 aircraft whose advanced long range capacity has been instrumental in our success of becoming a truly global airline," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group. "As the world’s largest operator of the 777, we have 93 more 777s on order, which is testament to our belief in the product and the role this aircraft will play in our goal to further establish Dubai as a central gateway to worldwide air travel. "The ultimate measure of success in this business is when you reach the 1,000 mark," said Larry Loftis, who until recently was vice president and general manager of the 777 program. "Reaching this milestone puts the 777 in an exclusive club and I would like to thank all our employees, suppliers and customers who made it possible. "Reaching this milestone requires two things, a product that provides exceptional value and a world-class production system to reliably bring that product to the marketplace, and we have both on the 777 program. "As a result, the 777 program reached this milestone faster than any other twin-aisle airplane because of the aircraft's proven performance, exceptional value, continuous innovation and progressive environmental performance," he added. The 1,000th 777 is a 777-300ER (extended range) model that seats 360 passengers in a three-class configuration. To date, Boeing has recorded orders for 1,361 777s to 64 customers around the globe. -- BERNAMA