(Photo Dominik Csordás)
THE END of 2024 may well have witnessed the final delivery of a Boeing 777-300ER, as production ended and slipped quietly into history without any public fanfare. The 777-31BER, ET-BBG (c/n 65420), was built for China Southern Airlines and first flew on January 20, 2020, though the order was never completed. It was later stored at Victorville, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, until December 10, 2024, prior to its overnight ferry flight to Addis Ababa, where it entered service with Ethiopian Airlines on December 12, on lease from Altavair. It was delivered with a hybrid livery incorporating a China Southern cheatline and plain white vertical stabiliser.
The last built 777-300ER rolled off the line in May 2021 as VP-BFC (c/n 65312) and was delivered to Aeroflot, with which it still operates. Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its Bermudan registration was removed and it was re-registered in Russia as RA-73141. Boeing has five unfilled orders for the 777-300ER, all slated for Pakistan International Airlines and dating from 2012. But with the Karachi-based carrier having parked six of its existing 12 777s and facing financial challenges, it would seem this order is likely to remain unfulfilled.