Japan’s ANA grounds 787 Dreamliner fleet until end of May

TOKYO: Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) said yesterday it was grounding its fleet of Dreamliners until at least the end of May, with no end in sight to woes for Boeing’s next generation plane.

The airline is cancelling 1,714 flights in April and May, a period that included Japan’s busy Golden Week holidays, taking the total affected to more than 3,600 since the Dreamliner was ordered out of the skies in January.

Of the newly- announced cancellations, 1,250 were domestic and 464 were international flights, including those bound for Seoul, Seattle and Frankfurt.

“Unfortunately, it includes Golden Week, but we have decided to inform our customers in advance as the prospect for their resumption is still unseen,” a company spokeswoman said.

ANA is Boeing’s biggest Dreamliner customer so far, with 17 of the world’s 50 operational 787s.

The next- generation aircraft has suffered a series of glitches culminating in a global alert from the US Federal Aviation Administration after two incidents involving the battery packs.

All operational 787s were grounded in January after smoke was detected mid- air on a flight in Japan.

That incident came just days after the lithium-ion battery caught fire on a Japan Airlinesoperated plane parked at a US airport.

ANA’s announcement is a further setback for Boeing, which has bet heavily on the 787, hoping its lightweight carbon fibre body would appeal to airlines desperate to clamp down on spiralling fuel costs.

Last week US operator United Airlines said it was taking its six Boeing 787s out of service through June 5, except for the launch a Denver-Tokyo route on May 12 if circumstances allowed.

That came as Boeing said it had proposed a fix for the battery issues, but had not yet convinced US safety regulators it has a sufficient handle on the problem.

On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was reviewing a plan by the aircraft manufacturer after meeting with senior executives.

“The safety of the flying public is our top priority and we won’t allow the 787 to return to commercial service until we’re confident that any proposed solution has addressed the battery failure risks,” the FAA said. — AFP

WORRIES AND WOES: This file picture an ANA Boeing 787 Dreamliner (bottom) being pulled by a towing tractor at Tokyo’s Haneda airport after a ANA Dreamliner passenger plane made an emergency landing in western Japan when smoke was reportedly seen inside...