According to news24, Ethiopian Airlines will be the world’s first carrier to resume flights with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, since regulators ordered all 50 planes out of the skies in mid-January, after batteries on two of them overheated.
A senior Ethiopian Airlines source told Reuters, “we’re flying to Nairobi, Kenya on the normal flight schedule.” Another source, who also declined to be named, confirmed the plan to resume flights on Saturday by the airline, the first African carrier to purchase Dreamliner planes. Ethiopian Airlines ordered 10, has received four, and started flying them in August. US regulators approved a new battery design on Friday, clearing the way for installation.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which grounded the planes, is expected to issue an Airworthiness Directive on Thursday (25 April). This applies to US airlines, but other nations are expected to follow suit immediately. 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.
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