Dubai’s Emirates airline celebrated a new milestone as its Boeing 777 fleet completed over 859,000 flights while logging over 4,720,000 flight hours since its first delivery in 1996.

On September 3, the airline and Boeing marked the 150th Emirates 777 delivery, with a triple delivery of two Boeing 777-300ERs and one Boeing 777 Freighter.

“Emirates’ approach to global air travel has created substantial additional demand for US-made aircraft and engines, and benefited millions of travellers,” said Sir Tim Clark, president Emirates Airline. “The Boeing 777 makes up the majority of our fleet, and gives us the range and flexibility to provide non-stop services to almost any city within a 16 hour flying range of our hub in Dubai. Our orders for these efficient jets have come on the back of our steady growth in the US and globally.

“We are proud to connect US cities to tourism and trade opportunities in destinations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East which were previously underserved by direct air transport links. It’s clearly a win-win situation when our investments in US-made technology together with our global operations, help to support US jobs and strengthen American prosperity.”

Emirates’ multi-billion dollar investment in the Boeing 777 program over the past 19 years, with committed deliveries for the next decade, continue to support jobs and innovation in the US aerospace manufacturing supply chain. Including its record-setting order in November 2013 for 150 GE-powered Boeing 777Xs, Emirates currently has an order book of 196 Boeing 777s valued at $93 billion at list prices.

The US Department of Commerce estimates that 5,359 US jobs are created for every one billion dollars in value of US export goods. On this basis, Emirates’ bulk order of the Boeing 777s alone supports over 400,000 new American jobs.  

Emirates’ support for innovations in aircraft technology and commitment to bulk purchases of new aircraft models have given Boeing the market certainty it needed to make these world-shrinking technological advances such as ultra-long range aircraft like the Boeing 777-200LR and 777-300ER which are capable of flying non-stop for sixteen hours.

Emirates also helps support the US export market, with its growing network connecting more of the US to key markets in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. During Emirates' most recently completed fiscal year (April 1, 2014 to March 31 2015), Emirates carried 120,320 tonnes of cargo from the US to different parts of the world.

As of May 2015, Emirates had already transported more than 27,900 tonnes of cargo.  Emirates’ Boeing 777 fleet has been instrumental in helping to transport this cargo, not only through its belly-hold capacity on passenger flights, but also via dedicated freighter services. The airline’s all-Boeing freighter fleet comprises 13 Boeing 777Fs and two Boeing 747Fs. – TradeArabia News Service