GE9x Ready to Rise

The GE9X is General Electric’s latest and biggest ever engine and could be the power plant that brings to fruition Project Sunrise, the Qantas ambition to launch non-stop commercial flights between Sydney and London. Now undergoing ground and flight testing, the US engine-maker says all systems are go for entry into service in 2020.

A key milestone was achieved at the Boeing Everett factory in Washington in November when engineers completed assembly of the major fuselage sections of the first flight-test B777X, the manufacturer’s latest long-haul, twin-aisle jet.

The wing-body join mated the aircraft’s 77-metre long fuselage, making it the longest passenger jet Boeing has produced, with its brandnew carbin fibre wing.