Boeing 777 widebody passenger jetliner pioneer Air France takes delivery of its 60th long-range 777-300ER
PARIS, 5 April 2012. Air France in Paris, the French flagship air carrier, took delivery of its 60th Boeing 777-300ER widebody twin-engine passenger jetliner, which airline officials will use on the Air France Caribbean-Indian Ocean network. The aircraft left the Boeing factory in Seattle and landed Wednesday Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
The Boeing 777 has digital fly-by-wire controls with flight envelope protection that guides pilot inputs within a computer-calculated framework of operating parameters to prevent stalls and overly stressful maneuvers. The pilot can override the fly-by-wire system if necessary.
The Boeing 777 also has software-configurable avionics, Honeywell liquid crystal display glass cockpit, and a fiber optic avionics network, as well as cockpit electronic flight bag computer displays. The aircraft has traditional yoke and rudder controls.
The new 468-seat Boeing 777-300ER has raked and extended wingtips and extra fuel tanks, with strengthened fuselage, wings, empennage, and engine attachments, and a maximum range of 7,930 nautical miles.
The aircraft, which uses some of the largest jet engines available today, uses only two engines -- not typical for an aircraft of its size -- primarily for fuel efficiency. This aircraft is extremely efficient in terms of fuel consumption, thus limiting the environmental impact of each flight, Air France officials say.
The latest Air France Boeing 777-300ER has 14 full-sleep business class seats, the premium-seat Alizé cabin has 32 seats, and the economy Voyageur cabin has 422 seats.
Earlier this year Boeing had delivered 318 777-300ER aircraft to 24 different operators, with 283 unfilled orders. Air France took the first delivery of a Boeing 777-300ER in 2004. In April and May 2012, Air France will receive two more Boeing 777-300ERs.
For more information contact Air France online at http://corporate.airfrance.com, or Boeing Commercial Airplanes at www.boeing.com/commercial.
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John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
