LONDON – Boeing is celebrating a tremendous milestone in its 777 program , which has just surpassing 2,000 units ordered since its launch.

Boeing’s Vice President of Marketing, Randy Tinseth, took a minute to highlight the accomplishment through his online blog.

Tomorrow, on January 8, Boeing is set to unveil its full-year orders and deliveries results, featuring the new significant milestone.

December 2018 saw Boeing secure 17 net orders for the Boeing 777 from BOC Aviation and two unidentified customers, bringing the total order count to 2,013 since the program was launched.

The aircraft secured 40 net orders in 2017, and 51 in 2018. A total of 209 Triple Sevens have been sold over the last five years, highlighting significant demand for this sort of aircraft.

Tinseth commented on its continued popularity saying that it “should come as no surprise”.

“The 777 is a powerful platform that continues to deliver unmatched passenger and cargo capabilities,” he said.

Tinseth was also keen to emphasise that as of the end of November 2018, the 777 won more orders in 2018 than each of the Airbus widebody family, being the A350, A330 and A380 alike.

The 777-300ER also outsold the A350-1000 by more than three to one, while the entire 777 family outsold the same variant by more than five to one.

Tinseth also went on to highlight the performance of the 777 Family with a memory from 2005 when the aircraft flew from Hong Kong to London eastbound in 22 hours and 22 minutes.

He also threw over another stat in his blog saying that out of the 20 longest commercial routes operating today, 10 of them are still flown by a Boeing 777.

As Tinseth puts it, “the 777 continues to please passengers while making money for leading carriers around the world, fueling the steady stream of orders.”

In his concluding remarks, Tinseth said that he is “excited to see how far this airplane family can go,” which is something just as exciting for industry leaders.

With the testing of the Boeing 777X in full swing, it will only be a matter of time before the first test flights are commenced.

Back in November, Boeing completed the assembly of the first flight test 777X, which is scheduled to take off in early 2019.

The first Boeing 777X engine, the General Electric GE9X, has been attached to the airplane’s wing.

Back in September, the manufacturer wowed the world with the rollout of the first 777X testbed vehicle, which is a non-flying airframe that will go through one year of static testing on the ground before further testbeds are allowed in the skies.

Last week, the first GE9X engines were attached to the wings of the first 777X test aircraft, WH001.

The GE9X is the world’s largest engine—so large a Boeing 737’s fuselage could fit inside and still have space to spare. General Electric has been testing the powerplant on its own Boeing 747 flying test bed.

Photo: General Electric

But even though this engine is bigger than its predecessor, the GE90, it produces less thrust. The GE9X produces about 10,000 less pounds than what the 777-300(ER)s engines are capable of producing.

The plane’s first flight is expected in the second quarter of 2019 with introduction planned for May 2020.

At the time of writing, which is before the full-year results, the 777X Family has secured 326 orders from eight different customers, 273 of which come from the -9X alone.

Up to date, Emirates remains as the world’s largest Boeing 777 operator, with 163 active 777-200(LR)s/-300(ER)s.

It will be interesting to see how the test flight goes but more importantly, as airshow season approaches in the next six months, whether any further units will be sold or not.