Ethiopian Airlines is poised to be the first airline to resume commercial Dreamliner flights in the next few days.
All 50 Boeing 787s currently in service have been grounded since mid-January due to problems with batteries catching fire.
But services are set to resume over the next few weeks as Boeing installs a new battery system, which was last week approved by the FAA in the US.
Ethiopian is set to restart Dreamliner flights with a one-off service between Addis Ababa and Nairobi on Saturday (April 27). Although the airline said that it was possible that the first 787 service could operate as early as Friday (April 26) between Addis Ababa and Dubai.
“The one-off service to Nairobi is likely to be the first Boeing 787 commercial service flight resumption,” said Ethiopian.
The Star Alliance member has also brought forward the resumption of the Dreamliner service on the Addis Ababa-Frankfurt route to Sunday (April 28) instead of previously planned June 15.
Boeing expects to complete the fitting of the new battery system to all 50 787s currently in service “within a month” while deliveries of new aircraft would resume at the start of May. British Airways is one of the customers due to receive its first Dreamliner next month.
Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said: “Our first priority in the days ahead is to fully restore our customers’ 787 fleets to service and resume production deliveries.”
LAN Chile is set to resume its Dreamliner services from June 1 but added that “operation remains subject to change”.
For the latest 787 updates from Boeing, click here
ethiopianairlines.com