Boeing moves forward on 777-8F with wing spar milestone
Engineers have completed 80% of the 777-8F design drawings and are finalising system and component details.;
A mechanic prepares to operate the automated fiber placement machine that builds the spars for the first 777-8 Freighter’s wings. (Marian Lockhart photo)
American aircraft manufacturer Boeing has begun work on its next-generation widebody freighter, the Boeing 777-8F, which is expected to enter service in 2028.
The company announced that it has completed the first spar, the long load-bearing beam that forms a critical support structure, for the 777-8 freighter’s wing.
It said that the team has also produced skin panels and stringers for the wings, which, along with the spars, provide strength and shape to the wing structure. For the 777-8F, wing spars measure more than 100 feet (30.5 metres) long.
Boeing and its key suppliers, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Subaru, have begun producing major assemblies for the 777-8 freighter, supporting its planned first delivery in 2028.
“We’re excited to be building wings for the new freighter and see this program succeed,” says Dan Truong, process center leader. “I’m looking forward to seeing the airplane fly, knowing we contributed.”
A skin panel for the first 777-8 Freighter’s wing in the Composite Wing Center. (Marian Lockhart photo)
Engineers have completed more than 80% of the drawings that define the configuration of the 777-8 freighter and are continuing the detailed design of its systems and components. The manufacturer also mentioned that teams are testing systems in laboratories to demonstrate that they perform as intended.
Notably, progress on the Boeing 777-8 freighter was earlier highlighted by John Perdoch, Director, Product Marketing Freighters at Boeing, in a panel discussion with The STAT Trade Times during Air Cargo Europe and transport logistic 2025 in Munich.
He said Boeing has begun producing major composite structures for the aircraft’s first wings, with the first flight targeted for 2026. “The design phase is virtually complete, and our supply chains are on board,” Perdoch said.
The 777-8F offers a payload capacity comparable to those aircraft, while delivering 30% lower fuel consumption and emissions, 25% improved operating costs per tonne, and a 60% reduction in noise footprint.
“Customers have a definite preference to choose Boeing – Boeing’s family of freighters serves 90% of the global freighter market,” says Ben Linder, 777 and 777-8 freighter chief project engineer. “We’ve earned that, and customers are counting on us to deliver the first 777-8 freighter to expand their operations and replace retiring 747-400 freighters.”
Suppliers are producing major assemblies for the first 777-8F. Clockwise from top left, a wing center section at Subaru, a fuselage section at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and a keel beam at Kawasaki Heavy Industries. (Photos courtesy Subaru, MHI and KHI)
Boeing’s 2025 Current Market Outlook projects a two-thirds increase in the global freighter fleet by 2044, including approximately 885 large widebody freighters.
Since its launch in 2022, the 777-8 freighter programme has received 59 orders. Qatar Airways Cargo is set to be the launch customer.
The rival to the Boeing 777-8 freighter, Airbus’s upcoming widebody freighter A350F, is also making steady progress. Airbus recently reached a key milestone in the programme, with its Broughton site completing the first-ever set of wings for the A350F.
Airbus is building two A350F test aircraft, which will undergo flight testing throughout 2026 and 2027. The company has secured a total of 66 net orders for the A350 freighter.