The graceful curve of the wing during cruise is part of its efficient design. But such a long wingspan poses problems at airports. Most of the largest commercial airports can handle wingspans of no more than 214 feet (65 meters as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization), which has been a problem for the massive Airbus A380. Due to its massive 262-foot wingspan, Airbus’ biggest airliner can fly to just 30 airports worldwide, six of them in the United States.
Boeing wants to avoid that problem, so it employed folding wingtips. Just as Navy jets fold their wings to save room on aircraft carriers, the 777X will fold more than 10 feet on each wing tip before pulling up to the gate.
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