UA Dreamliners back in the skies
NEW YORK, 21 May 2013: United Airlines resumed Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights Monday after the advanced plane was globally grounded four months ago due to overheated battery incidents.
United, the only US carrier that owns the high-tech jetliner, relaunched 787 passenger service with a flight from the airline’s hub in Houston, Texas, to Chicago, where Boeing is based, United said in a statement.
The biggest US airline, owner of six 787s, also announced it expected to take delivery of two more Dreamliners in the second half of 2013.
Air India flies Dreamliners
NEW DELHI, 16 May 2013: State-run Air India on Wednesday resumed flights of its Dreamliner jets four months after global regulators grounded the Boeing planes following technical glitches in the passenger aircraft.
All 50 Dreamliners operating globally were grounded in January after a fire aboard a parked Japan Airlines 787 in January and a smoking battery that forced the emergency landing of an All Nippon Airways 787 the same month.
The US Federal Aviation Administration approved Boeing’s new battery system design in April which allowed airlines around the world to begin modifying the Dreamliner planes.
Turkish splurges on 737s
NEW YORK, 15 May 2013: US aerospace giant Boeing said Tuesday that it had a firm order from Turkish Airlines for 70 Boeing single-aisle 737 aircraft in a deal valued at US$6.9 billion at list prices.
The order, originally announced as a commitment in early April, was finalized Tuesday and “is the largest Boeing order in Turkish Airlines’ history,” Boeing said in a statement.
It includes an option to buy 25 additional 737s, valued at US$2.5 billion at list prices.
Air India Dreamliners set to fly
MUMBAI, 10 May 2013: India’s national carrier is set to resume flights of the Dreamliner aircraft next week, an airline source said Wednesday, after the regulator gave the green light following safety modifications.
Air India owns six Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which Indian regulators had grounded from 17 January in line with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advisory to cease flying the aircraft.
“We have started test flights today. Commercial flights are set to start next week,” an Air India official said Wednesday, declining to be named, adding that international flights may start by the third week of May.
Airbus takes the lead
PARIS, 8 May 2013: French aerospace giant Airbus has shot ahead of US group Boeing in terms of net orders booked in the first four months of the year, taking almost twice as many, company data showed Tuesday.
Airbus, given a big boost by a deal last month with Turkish Airlines, said in a statement that it recorded 493 orders between January and April, compared with the 255 announced on Boeing’s website.
The orders represent seven years of production, Airbus said.
ANA tests Dreamliner
TOKYO, 29 April 2013: A modified Dreamliner took to the skies over Tokyo on Sunday with top Boeing and ANA executives aboard, as the planemaker and its leading client sought to reassure passengers the jetliners are safe.
It was the first flight by one of All Nippon Airways’ 787s since the worldwide fleet of the next-generation planes was grounded over safety concerns due to faulty batteries sparking fires on board two planes.
The test flight by ANA, which has the largest fleet of Dreamliners, came a day after Ethiopian Airlines became the first carrier to resume flying the 787s.
Ethiopia flies Dreamliner
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 29 April 2013: Ethiopian Airlines on Saturday became the first carrier to resume flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliners that have been grounded worldwide since January due to battery problems.
The Ethiopian carrier flew one of the next-generation aircraft from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, a day before All Nippon Airlines (ANA), which has the world’s largest fleet of Dreamliners, is set to conduct a test flight in Japan.
“I am very happy to see the airplane is back in the air now and I am very happy also we are the first one,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam told journalists before take off.
Boeing rushes to fit batteries
NEW YORK, 25 April 2013: Boeing expects to resume deliveries of the grounded 787 by early May and to complete its battery fix for the high-tech plane by mid-month, company chief Jim McNerney said Wednesday.
In an upbeat conference call after reporting robust first-quarter earnings, McNerney said that the company began installing its redesigned battery system “immediately” after receiving Federal Aviation Administration approval.
The FAA Friday approved Boeing’s solution to the problematic lithium-ion batteries, which include replacing them and their chargers with modified components and installing a steel enclosure system to contain any overheating.
Return of Dreamliner gets closer
TOKYO, 23 April 2013: Japan’s two biggest airlines said Monday they had begun replacing the power packs on their troubled Dreamliner aircraft after US aviation authorities’ approved Boeing’s battery fix proposal.
All Nippon Airways, the next-generation aircraft’s biggest operator, started installing the new battery system into five of its 17 Dreamliner planes at a handful of Japanese airports, a company spokesman said.
The replacement could take as long as two months, with the carrier eyeing a resumption of flights in June, he added.
Green flickers for Dreamliner flights
TOKYO, 19 April 2013: Shares in All Nippon Airways and battery maker GS Yuasa surged on Thursday after a report that US and Japanese regulators were preparing to give the green light to the resumption of Dreamliner flights.
Japan’s Nikkei business daily said aviation safety bosses in both countries could lift the grounding order on the Boeing 787, which has been parked up around the world since January following incidents involving its batteries.
ANA and its rival Japan Airlines (JAL) have invested heavily in the next-generation plane, and its grounding has played havoc with their schedules, forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights.
