EVERETT, WASH.: Throngs of Boeing employees and suppliers gathered along with company executives and Emirates brass on Friday to celebrate the completion of the 1,000th Boeing 777 widebody airliner. The 1000th jet, painted in a special commemorative livery, will be delivered to Dubai-based Emirates airlines later this month.
An elaborate celebration marked the impressive milestone, with five thousand employees and guests in attendance on the mammoth factory floor. The airplane reached the four digit mark in sixteen years, averaging just under sixty-thee airframes built per year since the type’s introduction in 1996.
Unsurprisingly Emirates — currently the largest fleet operator of the 777 (102) and the only carrier to operate all six variations of the aircraft made to date — was destined to be the receiving customer of the frame.
“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 true global airline”, remarked His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline.
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