Boeing drops 'X' from stretched 777 designation

Boeing has formally dropped the ‘X’ suffix from its individual stretched 777 variants, although it will retain it for the overall family.

The US airframer is officially referring to the variants as the 777-8 and the 777-9, the company said during the Dubai air show.

But the combined family, it adds, will still be known as the 777X.

Boeing

Large-scale models of the aircraft on display in Dubai feature the amended designation on the nose of the aircraft.

The change brings the branding of the long-haul twinjets into line with those of Boeing’s 787 family and the 747-8.

Boeing is intending to put the 777-9 into service in 2020 with the 777-8 following in 2022.