Early Boeing 777-200 to be broken up for the first time

**Midnight Mike** · 11-16-2006, 03:19 PM

Early Boeing 777-200 to be broken up for the first time
By Max Kingsley-Jones
A Boeing 777 is heading for the breaker’s yard for the first time, just 11 years after the twinjet first entered service.

Memphis-based Universal Asset Management says it has acquired a General Electric GE90-90B-powered 777-200 (MSN 27109) - the nineteenth aircraft off the line - for disassembly.

According to Flight’s Acas database, the aircraft was originally delivered to British Airways (BA) in January 1996 as G-ZZZE, being one of five non-Extended Range variants that the airline operated.

It was traded to Boeing in 2002 and after initially being placed with the now defunct Algerian carrier Khalifa Airways in 2003, entered service with Varig of Brazil as PP-VRD in 2004.

The aircraft was returned to Boeing in August and is now registered N703BA.

Universal, which has disassembled over 160 airliners in the past 10 years, says that this marks the first disassembly of a 777 and that component parts will be available for sale in the near future.

**Nonstop2AUH** · 11-16-2006, 05:14 PM

Sad sad sad, she should have had at least a 20 year lifespan but I guess there's little demand for the non-ER and the economics work. Just glad it wasn't G-ZZZA which has a similar history, she is of special meaning to me as I got to ride on the jumpseat thanks to the kindness of the crew (who had a mutual acquaintance) back when the world had a pre-9/11 mentality, as it was pre-9/11.