The Airline With The World's Largest Boeing 777 Operation In 2026

Credit: rafaelnlins | Shutterstock, Simple Flying Published Oct 29, 2026, 4:00 AM EDT Louis is a military historian and the staff writer for History of War magazine, a leading military history monthly. He also has an interest in private and commercial aviation. The world's largest Boeing 777 fleet by a significant margin belongs to Emirates. This Middle Eastern carrier owns 145 777s, according to Planespotters.net. This 777 fleet is broken up into 777-200LR, 777-300ER, and 777F, while the carrier has now retired its 777-300. The 777 is also far ahead of any other Emirates aircraft in numbers, with the Airbus A380 the next closest behind at 116 jets. In the coming years, Emirates' dominance among 777 owners will continue to rise. This is because the carrier holds an enormous Boeing 777X order of 270 planes, divided between 777-9s and 777-8s. These planes, set to help replace the A380, will substantially grow the Emirates 777 fleet once they begin to arrive. Despite delays, Emirates may even further grow its 777X order through converting its pre-existing Boeing 787 orders. The Current Emirates 777 Fleet Emirates flies three variants of the 777 for a total fleet size of 142 jets with an average age of 12.5 years. The most numerous of these variants is the 777-300ER, of which Emirates has 117 averaging 13.3 years. The plane is ideal for routes that slot between the high-capacity and premium-heavy hub-to-hub routes operated by the A380 and the lower demand routes operated by the less numerous 777-200LR. The 777-300ER is also Boeing's most popular 777 variant. Since entering operational service in 1994, Boeing has delivered 837 of these planes, almost double the amount of 777-200ER it has delivered, Simple Flying reports. The table below uses Planespotters.net data to show the current fleet of 777s flying for Emirates across each variant: 777 variant Active Parked Total Average age (years) -200LR 10 10 18.4 -300ER 114 3 117 13.3 777F 18 18 3.9 Total 142 3 145 12.5 (average across all variants) Outside its passenger fleet, Emirates also flies 18 777F jets. The first of these cargo planes arrived in the Emirates fleet in May 2022. This aircraft went straight into service, flying directly from Everett to Hong Kong, rather than heading to Emirates' base in Dubai. "Today, we are delighted to announce an investment of $1 billion to further expand our freighter capacity. This underscores our commitment to supporting our customers' requirements, and reflects our confidence in our future growth," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates. These modern freighters, averaging under four years old, substantially drag down the average age of Emirates 777 fleet. Where Emirates Flies Its 777 Fleet Last year, Emirates' busiest 777-300ER routes were to South Asia. This included four daily flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). The second-busiest route was to Male-Velana International Airport (MLE), with the carrier flying them between three and four times each day for a total of 1,444 flights across the year. India was a particularly common destination, with Chennai and Hyderabad seeing 1,095 flights across the year. Manila had the same total. 777-300ERs also frequently flew to Africa and Southeast Asia. The table below shows some of the busiest routes that Emirates' 777-300ERs fly in these regions: Origin Destination One-Way Flights In 2025 Overall Ranking Dubai Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) - Manila 1,095 4th Dubai O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) - Johannesburg 765 12th Dubai Cape Town International Airport (CPT) 730 15th Dubai Soekarno–Hatta International Airport (CGK) 730 15th Emirates also uses its 777-300ER for regional routes within the confines of the Middle East. The third-busiest route in 2025 using the aircraft type was the 1,177 trips from DXB to King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Other regional routes include the 952 flights to Kuwait International Airport (KWI) and King Fahd International Airport (DMM) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The History Of Emirates 777 Fleet In 1992, Emirates put in its first 777 order. It bought seven of the twin-jets, with options for a further seven. The airline called it "a vote of confidence for the industry [that was] hard hit by the first Gulf War." The first 777 came into the fleet in 1997, with deliveries continuing into the new millennium. The aircraft involved were 777-200s, -300s, and -300ERs. The table below shows the registration and active dates of the first 777s to be delivered to Emirates, taking just those that arrived before 2000. It uses data collected by Air Fleets: MSN Active to Active from Active to Subsequent owner 27252 A6-EMG 11/04/1997 01/06/2017 To VIM Airlines as VP-BSN 27251 A6-EMH 15/05/1997 20/07/2018 To IrAero as VP-BSJ 27250 A6-EMI 25/07/1997 20/04/2017 To VIM Airlines as VP-BLI 27253 A6-EMJ 30/09/1997 14/04/2017 To VIM Airlines as VP-BIC 29324 A6-EMK 30/10/1998 23/02/2018 To Air Peace as 5N-BVE 29325 A6-EML 25/11/1998 05/05/2017 To VIM Airlines as VP-BMR 29062 A6-EMM 12/11/1999 10/04/2018 To flyGlobal as 9M-FSL 29063 A6-EMN 23/12/1999 01/02/2018 To flyGlobal as 9M-FSM Emirates placed its next major 777 order in 2005. It ordered 42 new 777 jets. The deal was worth $9.7 billion, which is now worth $16.7 billion. At that time, no airline had made a larger 777 order. "We're honored that Emirates has again chosen the 777 and will now use the entire 777 family as a cornerstone of its fleet operations," said Alan Mulally, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive officer at the time. He added, "Emirates is renowned for its quality and excellence and we're excited to see how the airline and its passengers will benefit from the superior economics, comfort and utility of the 777 models ordered today." Emirates 777X Order Emirates made headlines with yet another ground-shaking 777 order. It shows that most of Emirates history with the 777 family is still to be written. In 2013, it committed to 150 jets, including 115 777-9 and 35 777-8. The value was $56 billion at list prices. Options were also made available for an additional 50 jets. Emirates made further strides towards a huge 777X fleet with an additional order for 90 jets at the 2023 Dubai Airshow: 55 777-9s and 35 777-8s. The 2023 order brought the total 777X firm commitment up to 205 planes, which has made it by far the world's largest 777X customer. "These additional aircraft will enable Emirates to connect even more cities, supporting the Dubai economic agenda D33," said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum Emirates now has 270 777X planes on order. Yet, despite several years of frustrating delays, with the first delivery expected for the second quarter of 2027, the order could continue to grow. The airline is considering whether to convert its 787 commitment to further 777X planes. It signed a firm commitment for 30 Boeing 787-9s in 2019, which was worth $8.8 billion at the time. The order has grown to 35 planes following the 2023 Dubai Airshow. It is expected that Boeing will take until at least 2038 to clear the Emirates 777X backlog, with additional orders bound to push that date even further down the road. “The option of converting to the 777X remains on the table,” Al Redha said, as reported by Emirates 24/7. “Everything is possible, and we will discuss everything in this regard with the manufacturer.” Emirates Has Refused Pre-Built 777X Aircraft Amid Delivery Delays The years of delays, which have forced Emirates to keep its aging aircraft active to fill capacity gaps, have caused immense frustration. The situation could have gotten worse if Emirates had received the pre-built 777Xs. These jets are currently in storage and need extensive work to bring them up to standard. At a media round table at the 2026 Farnborough International Airshow, Emirates President Tim Clark said that the airline would refuse to accept the "ten or 11" oldest 777X planes. "In the end, they have been standing on their wheels with their engines, of course, for some time. We last saw them a few years ago, parked outside Renton, all greened up, and you know, looking very sad," explained Clark, Aviation Express reports. These refusals could add substantially to the losses suffered by Boeing on the 777X program should other airlines follow Emirates' lead. This July, Boeing decided to scrap a pre-built 777X. The aircraft already partially wore Emirates colors, but will now never enter service with that or any other airline. This airframe was known as WH007 with the line number 1611 and was completed in July 2019. It was the seventh 777-9 ever built and was disassembled in summer 2025. Boeing has found itself in a difficult position. Each completed 777-9 has a list price of $442 million, which is a huge amount of revenue to lose even without manufacturing costs being taken into account. Some airlines will likely be prepared to take on these older jets to get to the front of the 777X queue. Yet, Boeing will need to absorb high reworking costs to incorporate the many changes to the aircraft since the first 777X was built. Boeing has yet to reveal the precise expenditure needed per aircraft.