There are five passenger-configured Boeing 777
variants: the 200, 200ER, 200LR, 300, and 300ER. Analyzing what carriers have submitted to OAG indicates they have 57,600 flights in October 2024. While services are up by 3% year-on-year, they remain a fifth lower than before the pandemic in October 2019. Unsurprisingly, this is mainly because of the older, smaller variants (-37%), while the Boeing 777-300ER
has fared much better (-3%). While the 777-9 is heavily delayed, it is coming and will eventually enter service.
Related
Cathay Pacific’s 1st Retrofitted 3-Class Boeing 777-300ER Will Carry Passengers Soon—Thoughts?
In July 2024, the first of Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-300ERs was flown to Xiamen to be retrofitted with its new business class and premium economy offering. The aircraft was B-KPO, which had a four-class, first-class-equipped configuration.
Not all Cathay’s 777-300ERs have first class, but those that do will see it removed in favor of three-class equipment. However, the airline’s incoming but delayed 777-9s will have first class, the only subfleet to have it.
Flightradar24 shows that B-KPO landed back in Hong Kong on October 7. It has 361 seats: 45 Aria Suites, 48 premium economy seats, and 268 in regular economy. Many other aircraft will eventually have this layout.
According to Aeroroutes, but not yet reflected in Cathay’s schedule submission to Cirium and OAG, the 361-seater will start carrying passengers on October 18 from Hong Kong to Beijing Capital. It will initially operate daily on CX332 outbound (12:00-15:30) and CX331 inbound (16:50-20:35).
What do you make of Cathay’
The longest non-stop 777 flights: October
While I will examine one-stop services another time, this article focuses on non-stop operations, as shown below. Nine of the 10 routes featured involve the US, led by Air India’s
‘Silicon Valley’ link between Bengaluru and San Francisco International Airport
. When all aircraft are considered, it ranks 11th longest globally.
As always, the Great Circle was used to measure the distance. As some routes have similar distances, real-world operations may change the order. The list could differ in other months or if block time was used instead.
|
Nautical miles (km) |
Route |
Airline and operations |
Comments (dates refer to the direction of the route in the second column) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
7,561 (14,003) |
Bengaluru-San Francisco |
Air India; three times weekly 777-200LR |
Deploys ex-Delta aircraft |
|
7,305 (13,529) |
Mumbai-San Francisco |
Air India; four times weekly 777-200LR |
Deploys ex-Delta aircraft |
|
7,014 (12,990) |
Hong Kong-New York JFK |
Cathay Pacific; daily 777-300ER |
It serves JFK three times daily; other flights are on the A350-1000 and A350-900. While the route is currently Cathay’s longest link globally, Dallas/Fort Worth will surpass it in April 2025 |
|
6,987 (12,940) |
Dubai-Dallas/Fort Worth |
Emirates; daily 777-300ER |
|
|
6,953 (12,877) |
Guangzhou-New York JFK |
China Southern; weekly 777-300ER |
|
|
6,923 (12,821) |
Vancouver-Singapore |
Air Canada (see comments) |
While it’s usually a 787-9 route, the 777-300ER will operate once on October 30 only |
|
6,899 (12,777) |
Taipei-Houston Intercontinental |
EVA Air; daily 777-300ER |
|
|
6,892 (12,764) |
Doha-Dallas/Fort Worth |
Qatar Airways (see comments) |
While currently double daily A350-1000, the 777-200LR will operate one of the two flights from October 27 |
|
6,887 (12,755) |
Washington Dulles-Cape Town |
United (see comments) |
The 777-200ER will operate all flights (three times weekly) until October 24, with the 787-9 taking over on October 26 |
|
6,817 (12,625) |
Dubai-Miami |
Emirates; daily 777-300ER |
Flights continue to/from Bogotá |
Related
Wow: More Than 40 US Routes Have Started In The First 13 Days Of October
How many of them can you name?
It has changed massively in a year
Using OAG data to analyze 777-operated routes in October 2023 indicates the top 10 list was different. Then, these airport pairs featured:
- 7,240 nautical miles (13,408 km): Saudia between Jeddah and Los Angeles was in third place. It was served twice-weekly on the 777-300ER. A year later, the route is not served. The last flight was on September 7, 2024, and it’s due to return on November 21, when it’ll operate three times weekly.
- 7,143 nautical miles (13,229 km): in fourth place was Philippine Airlines from Manila to Toronto. The 777-300ER was flown at times until August 2024, but it was primarily an A350-operated route. The A350 operates exclusively now.
- 6,826 nautical miles (12,672 km): United Airlines from San Francisco to Melbourne was in ninth place. At the end of October 2023, the 777-300ER replaced the 787-9 for the peak season Down Under. However, it is now all-787.