Etihad Airways to receive first 777X jet in 2031, with airline unaffected by programme delays

Supply chain problems are easing to pre-Covid levels, chief executive Antonoaldo Neves says

Etihad Airways chief executive Antonoaldo Neves has said aircraft deliveries from manufacturers are a 'mixed bag'. The National

Etihad Airways is scheduled to receive the first of its Boeing 777X aircraft in 2031 and is unaffected by the programme's seven-year delay, chief executive Antonoaldo Neves told The National on Thursday.

Boeing on Wednesday announced further delays to the debut of 777-9 wide-body, beyond the scheduled delivery in 2026, due to a prolonged certification process. It now means the programme is seven years behind the original scheduled delivery of 2020, which was set in 2013.

In May, Etihad confirmed an order of 28 Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft, aligning its fleet with its expanding global route network.

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  Etihad Airways announces the introduction of 10 Airbus A321LRs to its fleet from August 1. All photos: Etihad Airways

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  Etihad will also introduce the first First Class suite aboard this narrow-body aircraft

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  Etihad Business Class will have 14 lie-flat beds as part of its offering aboard the A321LR

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  The airliner is arranged along a single aisle

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  There will be 144 seats in Etihad Economy on the new A321LR airliners

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  Touchscreens will be available across Economy Class

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  The Etihad A321LR will be rolled out for service on a variety of destinations from August 1

Industry supply chain bottlenecks, which worsened after the pandemic, are returning to pre-Covid levels, Mr Neves told the Skift Global Forum East event in Abu Dhabi. "It's getting better," he said. "It's still a challenge but I think now we are at a similar level that we were in 2019."

The airline is to receive deliveries of 10 of the Airbus A321 long-range narrow-bodies it was scheduled to get this year. "We told the world that we would get 10 A321 LRs this year and we're getting them – today actually we just got one more," Mr Neves added.

Overall, aircraft deliveries from manufacturers are a "mixed bag" because they are "a little bit delayed, but it's not a situation where I would say it's further deteriorating, I think it's further improving".

There are planes available in the secondary market, particularly for narrow-body aircraft, which has helped airlines to navigate supply chain challenges, he said. "The wide-body [market] is tighter, but it's not going to compromise our opportunity to capture the demand that's coming."

The challenge is that some aircraft have not yet been certified and "it's a big problem, but we don't face that problem", Mr Neves said, without identifying specific models.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline, which takes delivery of an average of 20 planes a year, recorded 90 per cent load factor during the third quarter of 2025 because "our prices are ultra-competitive", Mr Neves told the forum. Load factor is a measure of how effectively an airline fills seats.

Asked about the potential of an Etihad listing, Mr Neves said the matter is for the airline's government shareholder to decide. But he shared the example of Ryanair, which recently bought back some of its shares, noting that it is a "good company" in terms of profitability. "Etihad is paying dividends. So the key question is: why IPO?".