Boeing’s seventh 777-9 test aircraft completed its first flight on Friday, joining the company’s certification campaign for the latest version of the 777X programme. The twinjet flew for about three hours over Washington, Idaho and Oregon before landing at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, where it is now set to support late-stage testing ahead of entry into service.
The flight was carried out by Capt. Dan Mangel and Capt. Jake Miller as a standard maiden-flight profile to check the aircraft’s systems and structures. Boeing plans to use the airframe in the final phase of certification work, including ETOPS and function-and-reliability testing, alongside other operational validation tasks.
The additional test aircraft expands the fleet available for the 777X campaign as Boeing works to complete certification and prepare for first delivery, still expected in 2027. The new 777-9 is understood to be a production-configured airframe, giving the programme more capacity for the final round of verification before commercial service.