Boeing has made waves on the first day of the 2025 Dubai Airshow by announcing a feasibility study for a proposed 777-10 model. The news comes as Emirates announces an order for another 65 examples of the Boeing 777-9 from the 777X series. These aircraft will be powered by 130 General Electric GE9X engines.
Emirates‘ latest purchase takes its backlog of outstanding orders with the US planemaker to 315 aircraft, with the two parties having now enjoyed 40 years of partnership. The Dubai-based UAE flag carrier is also the world’s largest GE9X customer, with these engines being the exclusive powerplant for the Boeing 777-9, and the world’s most powerful in the commercial jet sector. Let’s take a closer look at the significance of these announcements.
Strengthening Ties Between The US & The UAE
Monday, November 17, 04:25 EST | 13:25 Local
Credit: Emirates
Emirates’ latest addition to its considerable order book for the Boeing 777X also has diplomatic significance, as ties continue to strengthen between the US and Middle Eastern nations such as the UAE. As such, the carrier was keen to highlight the fact that the deal represents “a massive long-term commitment to US aerospace manufacturing, generating support for hundreds of thousands of high-value manufacturing jobs in the US.”
The airline’s renewed commitment to the Boeing 777X means that it will now be receiving aircraft from the US planemaker until 2038, underlining the strength of a working relationship that has seen Emirates operate every model from the 777 family. A new variant may yet be added in the form of the 777-10, with Al Maktoum citing “air traffic growth and increasing constraints at airports” as reasons for Emirates’ support of the feasibility study.
Emirates Orders 65 More Boeing 777-9s
Monday, November 17, 04:15 EST | 13:15 Local
Credit: Simple Flying
Al Maktoum was present at today’s press conference at the Dubai Airshow 2025, as seen above flanked by Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope and GE Aerospace Group Vice President (GE Programs) Mahendra Nair, as it also featured a major Emirates order. Specifically, the airline has put its name down for another 65 examples of the Boeing 777-9, which is currently the largest variant of the widebody 777X family.
These modern twinjets will be powered by 130 GE Aerospace GE9X turbofan engines, with Emirates stating that the deal as a whole is worth $38 billion in terms of list prices. The carrier now has outstanding orders for 315 Boeing aircraft and 540 GE9X engines, with Al Maktoum saying that the airline’s ambitions are closely aligned with those of Dubai and the UAE as a whole. Emirates expects 777X deliveries to commence in Q2 of 2027.
A key component of Emirates’ 777-9 order with Boeing is the fact that it will be able to convert its purchases to either the smaller 777-8 model or, pending its feasibility study, the proposed larger 777-10 variant. Today’s deal takes its 777-9 order book to 270 aircraft, with Emirates noting that it is also expecting to receive another 35 787s and 10 777 freighters, as well as 52 more units of the A350-900 from Boeing’s European rival, Airbus.
Boeing To Conduct 777-10 Feasibility Study
Credit: Shutterstock
After a quiet few years on the airshow circuit, Boeing is back with a bang, having just announced on the first day of the 2025 Dubai Airshow that it will conduct a feasibility study into building a potential 777-10 model. This would represent a further stretch of the 777-9 variant, which is already set to be the world’s largest twinjet airliner, and has enjoyed much more success on the sales front than its smaller counterpart, the Boeing 777-8.
The US planemaker made its announcement at a joint press conference with Emirates, where Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Chair and CEO of the UAE flag carrier, said that his airline has been asking manufacturers to build the largest capacity aircraft possible. This, he explains, would allow Emirates to operate more efficiently on high-capacity routes. The carrier has worked with Boeing for 40 years, with GE’s Mahendra Nair saying that:
“Emirates is and always has been the most future-focused airline in the world.”
