Boeing 777X Has New Airline Keen

Gulf Air’s Chief Executive Officer, Martin Gauss, has expressed admiration for the Boeing 777X, which could eventually join the airline’s fleet as part of its growth efforts.

Speaking in a tell-all interview with aeroTELEGRAPH, Gauss discussed not just how the Iran war impacted the business, but fundamentally what’s next and what is on the radar for the airline as it looks to develop in the coming decades.

With the airline remaining committed to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, that isn’t stopping studies of other aircraft and the building of a possible case to include them. The 777X, labelled as a growth strategy, is part of that.

The Boeing 777X At Gulf Air?

Gulf Air today operates with a mid-sized fleet, nothing small, and nothing large compared to some of its neighbours in the region. The airline has built its fleet with a core focus on the Boeing 787 for its long-haul routes, and for next-generation capabilities, the Airbus A320neo family is present.

The Dreamliner provides the business with the perfect range and capacity to reach key international destinations, including Paris and London. With that knowledge and by finding ways to scale capacity and markets in the future, the 777X is of particular interest and is a model the airline has yet to order.

The 777-9s would enable Gulf Air to up-gauge its strongest trunk routes, whether to future North American services or to existing cities like London. If the switch were made, it would force the redeployment of existing Dreamliners to other cities that need service but may not have been viable due to aircraft limitations.

The higher seat count, then belly capacity, paired with an ambition to be a premium carrier, could, if executed correctly, lead Gulf Air to substantial improvements in its unit costs. Furthermore, ensuring that its boutique nature would remain, thanks to a spacious, premium-dense cabin that would maximise space for the upper classes rather than cramming passengers into Economy.

For the long-haul network, the benefits of the 777X are clear. As competing airlines in the Gulf commit heavily to planes like the 777-9 and the Airbus A350-1000, the two currently largest in-production variants, Gulf Air in Bahrain needs to ensure it has enough seats on its network for the future.

If the seats available do not meet demand in the mid-2030s, with aircraft absent and lines sold out due to limited availability, Bahrain risks seeing its position eroded as other markets soar ahead with investment.

A Risky Addition To The Business

While the Boeing 777X offers many benefits for airlines looking to scale their capacity and long-haul capabilities in the coming decades, it isn’t always the best solution, as the risks sometimes outweigh the benefits.

In the case of Gulf Air, there are visible trade-offs from acquiring a model like the 777-9 that would need to be fundamentally analysed, and something that Gauss hasn’t shied away from in his evaluation of future prospective aircraft that could join the business.

Jumping up from the 787 to the 777X is substantial, and the gauge, let alone the sheer capital costs involved, are significant. Therefore, bridging the gap between rising costs and revenue growth, which has been slower than expected, means that, for the moment, these types of investments are not to be made if deemed feasible.

Additionally, Gulf Air has a fleet of Boeing 787s for its widebody operations and has yet to commit to the 787-10. Gauss, in his interview with aeroTELEGRAPH, said that the Boeing 787-10, which is the highest-capacity member of the family, is of interest.

That interest stems from comments that when you commit heavily to a fleet type, like the Dreamliner, going all in, you tend to stay with it instead of pivoting to a larger 777X unless absolutely neccesary. The 787-10 offers a solution to airlines’ need for more seats while also carrying less risk.

Despite the trade-offs, Gulf Air still likes what the 777X can do, but much still needs to be studied and improved within its own operations before a final decision can be made. Beyond its interest, it also wants the jet to be certified so it can gauge real-world performance from neighbouring airlines.