The last Boeing 777-300ER ever built was delivered in December 2024, and it didn't even go to an airline. The buyer was Altavair LP, an aircraft leasing and finance firm that has handled over $12 billion in jet transactions since 2003. The jet had a roundabout history: originally ordered by China Southern Airlines, the order fell through during COVID and the aircraft sat in storage for nearly five years before Altavair leased it to Ethiopian Airlines in 2024 — still wearing China Southern's livery. A lingering Pakistan International Airlines order for five more never materialised, so the Altavair delivery officially closed the book on the type.
That's the end of one of commercial aviation's great success stories. First flown commercially by Air France in 2004, the 777-300ER paired a stretched fuselage with the General Electric GE90-115B — at the time the most powerful commercial jet engine in the world, producing 115,300 pounds of thrust. The result: seating for around 365-396 passengers and a range of 7,370 nautical miles. That combination let airlines fly dense long-haul routes non-stop with a twinjet, burning far less fuel per seat than the four-engine jets it replaced.
The numbers tell you why airlines loved it. Of 1,781 Boeing 777s of all variants delivered, 833 were 777-300ERs, making it the flagship of the best-selling widebody family in history. Emirates was the biggest customer by far, with well over 100 still in service. Qatar Airways and many Gulf and Asian carriers built their hub-and-spoke networks around it — China Eastern even used it to launch the world's longest one-stop direct flight.
So why stop production? Boeing has been winding down output for years — just three deliveries in 2022 and a single one in 2024 — while it pours resources into the 777X, its successor powered by the new GE9X engine. That engine outdoes the GE90 with 134,300 pounds of thrust and a carbon-fibre fan 11.2 feet across, promising up to 10% better fuel efficiency. But the 777X has been repeatedly delayed, and a costly machinists' strike from September to November 2024, involving around 33,000 Washington state workers demanding a 40% pay rise, didn't help Boeing's wider production picture.
For travellers, none of this means saying goodbye. The 777-300ER will roam the skies for years, because airlines still need big, efficient long-haul jets and passenger demand keeps climbing. If you want to book a flight on one, Emirates is your safest bet, with the type central to its long-haul network. Many other global carriers still fly it on trunk routes between major hubs.
There's something satisfying about flying a legend while you still can: the 777-300ER effectively created the long-range twinjet era we now take for granted, and the GE90's enormous fan remains one of aviation's most impressive sights up close. Next time you're booking a long-haul trip, it's worth checking which aircraft type is scheduled — a few more years and this one will be a collector's item.
Reporting via Simple Flying.
