FARNBOROUGH, July 21 (Reuters) – Emirates expects Boeing’s 777-9 aircraft to be delivered in the second quarter of next year, the airline’s President Tim Clark told journalists on Tuesday, as the delayed widebody jet moves closer to certification.
“We should have had the planes in April 2020,” Clark said, adding that it is “a stretch” to add them to the fleet in 2027.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration told Reuters on Monday that it expected the aircraft to be certified late this year or early next year.
Clark also urged aircraft manufacturers to continue investing in new technologies and not pause development after bringing the 777-9 to market, saying the industry needed to be more ambitious.
“My legacy would be to move the manufacturers from the middle ages to the late 20th and early 21st century,” Clark said at the UK’s Farnborough Airshow.
His comments contrasted with remarks from airline executives on Monday, who warned manufacturers against rushing into the development of a new generation of aircraft before existing programmes are mature, as the industry grapples with delivery delays and certification challenges.
(Reporting by Joanna Plucińska and David Shepardson, writing by Maria Rugamer, Louise Heavens)
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