GE Aerospace’sGE9X is the largest and most powerful jet engine ever produced. Made up of over 35,000 parts and able to deliver some 134,300 pounds of thrust, the General Electric spin-off has not held back with the engine. This will become the exclusive power unit for the Boeing 777X, itself set to be the world’s largest passenger jetliner by length.

Naturally, such a product comes at a cost. From a widely reported list price that is eyewatering in itself of just over $40 million, to as much as $127 million paid by Singapore Airlines for engines plus servicing, how much airlines actually end up paying per GE9X engine varies.

So, What Have Airlines Paid?

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In short, a standardized price tag for the GE9X is tough to find. Where one airline may pay a premium, another that is a major customer might be able to aggressively negotiate towards a lower price. Alongside this, varying servicing agreements mean the actual price of engines alone are often somewhat unclear to those on the outside. Look at Singapore Airlines, as touched on above. The aforementioned order was signed in 2022 for 22 GE9Xs and included a 12-year servicing agreement. All told, the order value amounted to $2.8 billion at list price – itself a term used to reference an official, rather than final, figure. This complemented Singapore’s initial order for 20 777Xs and 40 GE9Xs, penned in 2017.

Emirates, a key customer of the 777X program with a whopping 270 orders, paid closer to $53.33 million for the GE9X engines in its original order. Some 300 of the power units were said to be collectively worth $16 billion at the time in 2013. This excluded maintenance, repair, and overhaul though, for which it paid a further $16 billion in 2015 to cover a period of 12 years.

Qatar Airways then ordered 20 GE9X engines and eight GE90-115B engines in 2015 to power 10 777Xs and four 777 freighters. The deal was valued at a list price of “more than $1.1 billion,” per GE Aerospace. As such, Qatar forked out just under $39.3 million per engine. This example is tricky though, given Qatar likely paid proportionally more for the GE9X engines, but also because the deal complemented a previous order for Boeing 777Xs, and their engines, to take its total number bought to 60.

Exclusivity Leaves GE Aerospace Holding All The Cards

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Indeed, the examples given are far from perfect and the standalone figures of the GE9Xs ordered equate more to educated guesses, rather than solid prices. GE Aerospace has left it this way quite deliberately, however, given that inconspicuity is common across the industry where negotiations are the norm, and so publishing thorough detail risks giving subsequent customers fuel to nab better deals.

Regardless, we know General Electric’s most powerful engine is the result of a multi-billion dollar project, involving partnerships with France’s Safran SA, Japan’s IHI Corp and Germany’s MTU Aero Engines AG, and that has seen entire new sites built to facilitate testing and manufacturing. This turned out a power unit built with “a variety of 3D-printed parts” and even “light and heat-resistant space-age materials,” to name a few. While a single, set-in-stone price for the product simply does not exist, the “over $70 million” mark quoted in a Business Insider article appears a fair benchmark for such technology.

GE9X features, from GE Aerospace:

Aside from the technology itself, GE Aerospace’s position as the exclusive provider of the engine will also have a key impact. Usually, airlines hold a fair amount of bargaining power when hashing out deals with manufacturers. This is especially the case when buying engines for aircraft that can be powered by alternative options. However, as the only engine maker for the 777X program, GE Aerospace holds far more metaphorical cards than is often the case, leaving airlines with less wiggle room to cut down on price.

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Engines An Increasingly Valuable Asset

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Engines themselves are valuable assets, especially in an environment where manufacturers are grappling with supply constraints and so are struggling to fill orders in a timely manner. This has only become more relevant in recent years, thanks to the sluggish output of aircraft off production lines, but also delays in the certification of new aircraft – namely the 777X, but more on this later.

As aviation analyst IBA laid out in its latest Engine and Lease Rate Update: “Current widebody engine values remain exceptionally strong due to the slow recovery in production rates for new widebody aircraft and Boeing 777X program delays. Since 2023, engine values for the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 families have increased markedly.”

Whilst less relevant to the GE9X itself, engines for the jets it will ultimately replace have gained in value as a result. Take the existing family of 777s, also powered by variants of GE Aerospace’s GE90. Knock-on effects of delays have pushed the likes of the GE90-115BL to a full life value in excess of $32 million, per IBA, while serviceable engines were trading above the $20 million mark as of early 2026.

How Does GE9X Fare Against Predecessors?

GE Aerospace itself compares the GE90 against its GE90-115B, which was introduced commercially in 2004, as a point of reference. According to the engine maker, the former racks up annual fuel savings in the range of 10% versus its predecessor. GE Aerospace also boasts that the GE9X “produces half the nitrogen oxides of any engine in its class” and “is the quietest turbofan engine” the company has ever built.

Built using ceramic matrix composites, GE Aerospace notes that its GE9X is lighter in weight and has improved durability compared to predecessors. According to the manufacturer, parts making up the engine are twice as strong as conventional components, and also require 59% less air for cooling.

Like the GE9X, the GE90-115B has varied in price throughout the years. An example of how much each costs nowadays can be found in China Airlines’ 2013 order for 20 engines to power 10 Boeing 777-300ERs. With a list price value of $170 million at the time for the engines, each was likely worth around $8.5 million. Accounting for inflation in the United States, that would be just shy of $12.0 million nowadays. Historically, though, the engine has gone for more, with EVA Air penning a deal for seven 777-300ERs in 2012, where engines were around the $17.9 million mark each. Today, that would be nearly $25.5 million.

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Delays, Delays, And Further Delays

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Of course, an article on the 777X would not be complete without mentioning delays. Indeed, Boeing’s attempt to create a next-generation, flagship option for fleets around the world has been plagued with issues. As a result, expectations are now for the aircraft to debut commercially in 2027, against 2020 as originally planned.

Needless to say, this presents a massive issue for airlines that were banking on the 777X being ready several years ago. Life extensions to existing aircraft, temporary deployments of other widebodies, and alternative orders have been seen in response as airlines rush to cover gaps left by undelivered planes. Add in the billions of dollars such customers have already put towards their new 777Xs and GE9X engines, and the term ‘headache’ would be an understatement.

Whether Boeing will be able to get the 777X out by next year still rests on securing regulatory approval. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began phase three of its Type Inspection Authorization on the aircraft over the final quarter of last year. Under this, FAA pilots and engineers will assess the aircraft during flights. Final type certification will then come next, but a time span for when this might be is difficult to gauge.

GE Aerospace Ready And Waiting For Boeing

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Despite the woes of Boeing’s program, GE Aerospace itself successfully got its GE9X certified way back in 2020. As such, the most powerful commercial jet engine to ever grace the industry has been left without an aircraft to power outside of testing for years on end. The real shame, for GE Aerospace at least, is that the engine was designed exclusively for the 777X, so seeing it in action will have to wait.

Rest assured, though, that mass production is well underway, and GE Aerospace has been poised to start filling orders at the drop of a hat. “GE Aerospace is ready for takeoff,” the company said last summer. “GE9X engines are currently rolling off the production line and being loaded onto trucks for an epic cross-country haul, first to Ohio for rigorous testing and then onward to Boeing’s factory in the Pacific Northwest.”