British Airways First 777-9 Delayed To 2028

British Airways is preparing for its first 777-9 to arrive in 2028, according to its parent company, International Airlines Group, as uncertainty grows around the new long-haul flagship.

IAG said the wait for the first aircraft is expected to be longer than first anticipated, further compounding the stress around an aircraft meant to replace the Boeing 747, retired over half a decade ago.

The revised timeline puts the jet six years behind initial expectations and years after 747 operations ended.

Longer wait for the first 777-9

IAG’s chief executive Luis Gallego confirmed the revised delivery date in the recent third-quarter earnings call, saying that a 2028 delivery was now on the cards. The arrival, though, remains subject to change and is a forecast; without certification, it can shift further, as it has in the past.

British Airways’ schedule and Boeing’s programme-wide timetable also contributed to the recent delays. Boeing moved its first delivery to 2027 some time ago and is holding firm, but that doesn’t mean British Airways will welcome the jet then.

Current first customers Lufthansa and Emirates are expected to take delivery of their first 777-9s around mid-year, with the German flag-carrier hoping to introduce the type into service for the Northern summer 2027 schedule, which is now off the cards.

Lufthansa, in its own quarterly call, said it would build the northern summer schedule without the 777-9 to protect the schedule, and expects low single-digit deliveries, which will reduce the number handed over and thus the planned introduction.

With fewer deliveries forecast for Lufthansa and likely Emirates, the knock-on effects are felt by other airlines expecting the jet, such as British Airways, with the slip resulting in a 2028 first handover and then a debut within the network as a direct consequence too.

If Boeing can deliver the first 777-9 to British Airways in 2028, it would be a welcome addition to a fleet that has been crying out for long-haul support, but it is staggeringly three years after the complete order should’ve been fully handed over based on initial expectations.

British Airways to use 777-9 as the 747 replacement

IAG’s order for the 777-9 came in February 2019, committing to 18 of the type and options for another 24, with the sole intention of overhauling British Airways’ long-haul operation rather than other airlines across the Group.

Those 777-9s were targeted at the older Boeing 747-400s and 777-200s, with the planned configuration of the jet looking to maximise both premium seating options and capacity on the platform. IAG’s then chief executive, Willie Walsh, called it the ideal replacement for British Airways.

What was intended to begin delivery in 2022 to align closely with the retirement of the 747s quickly proved otherwise. The replacement of the 747 was delayed, and in July 2020 the airline retired its 747 fleet to lower costs during the unprecedented drop in demand from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unaware of the delays that would follow over the next 6 years, the 747s have now been gone for more than half a decade, and the 777-9 has yet to be delivered and is not yet fully certified. British Airways is still waiting and forecasting further delays in the expected handover.