Report reaching the desk of CEOAFRICA Business News desk from Addis Ababa has indicated that Ethiopian Airlines is set to become the world's first carrier to resume flying Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner passenger jets, with a commercial flight to neighbouring Kenya, two airline sources said.
According to Reuters, Boeing's Dreamliners have been grounded since regulators ordered all 50 planes out of the skies in mid-January after batteries on two of them overheated. U.S. regulators approved a new battery design on Friday,19th April,2013 clearing the way for installation.
Further report explained that Ethiopian Airline will resume 787 Dreamliner flight on Saturday 27th April,2013. A senior Ethiopian Airlines source told Reuters, "We're flying to Nairobi, Kenya on the normal flight schedule.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which grounded the planes, is expected to issue an Airworthiness Directive before the scheduled take-off flight, although this applies to U.S. airlines, but other nations are expected to follow suit immediately, Reuters reported.
The grounding has cost Boeing an estimated $600 million, halted deliveries and forced some airlines to lease alternative aircraft. Several airlines have said they will seek compensation from Boeing, potentially adding to the plane maker's losses.
Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president for marketing, said in the Ethiopian capital that the planes for all airlines would be modified and they would then work with their own regulatory authorities to determine when flights would resume.
"Each airline will be a little bit different," he told reporters, adding that Boeing expected to meet its target of delivering more than 60 of its Dreamliner planes in 2013.
"The timing will change a little bit but we will be able to meet our commitments to our customers in terms of delivery this year," Tinseth said.
Ethiopian Airlines previously said its fleet did not suffer any of the technical glitches experienced by other Dreamliner jets, though it withdrew the planes from service to undergo special inspection requirements mandated by the FAA.
