Dreamliner returns in Ethiopia
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Ethiopian Airlines has flown a 787 Dreamliner from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, the first commercial flight to take place since all aircraft were grounded in January.
Boeing, the aircraft’s manufacturer, said the plane was suffering a battery malfunction, which had caused an aircraft in the US to catch fire.
The decision to ground the Dreamliner meant that 50 planes around the world were unable to fly while investigations were carried out.
However, the last week has seen Boeing’s engineers install new batteries on all the aircraft, after aviation officials approved the new battery.
Boeing has said it put in 200,000 engineering hours into fixing the problem.
“We would like to thank Ethiopian Airlines for the patience, support and leadership shown throughout the period that the 787 Dreamliner has been grounded. We congratulate the airline on the return to commercial service of its 787 fleet. Ethiopian is a leading airline in Africa and we take pride in their achievement,” said Ray Conner, president and CEO, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The new batteries run at a much cooler temperature, enclosed in steel boxes with a ventilation pipe which goes directly out of the plane. This eliminates any problem which could occur if the batteries did catch fire in the future – isolating them from the rest of the aircraft.
Randy Tinseth, Boeing’s vice president of marketing, joined the Ethiopian flight and wrote the following on his blog:
“I’ve taken countless flights during my career at Boeing. But I can tell you the one I took today may be the most special.
“I had the privilege of being on the first 787 to return to commercial service with our new battery system. Ethiopian Airlines flight 801 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi landed earlier today.
“The flight left on time, landed early and was truly perfect. Many of the passengers had no idea they’d be flying on the 787 until the bus dropped them off at the air stairs.”
The event was also joined by Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, who made the following announcement before the flight took off.
“We are excited to resume our service with the Dreamliners,” Gebremariam commented. “The Dreamliner is the most advanced commercial aircraft, which has enabled passengers travelling with Ethiopian to enjoy the ultimate on-board comfort. During the five months our four Dreamliners were in service, we were very pleased with their performance, and the feedback from our passengers has been overwhelmingly positive. I look forward to being onboard the first passenger flight on Saturday 27 April.”