DGCA lifts ban on Dreamliner

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday allowed resumption of operations of the Boeing 787 dreamliner aircraft, by issuing an order lifting the ban on operations of the aircraft in India.The test-flights (without passengers) of Air India’s dreamliner aircraft are likely to start from Wednesday and Air India is hoping to resume flights with passengers from May 16.Air India has so far taken possession of six dreamliners from Boeing out of a total order of 27 aircraft that was placed a few years ago.The DGCA had in January this year, grounded Air India’s six Boeing 787 dreamliner aircraft following the emergency airworthiness directive iss-ued by the United States’ Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) that operations of the aircraft be “temporarily ceased”.The FAA had then said there was a “potential battery fire risk” in the Boeing 787 dreamliners that “requires operators to temporarily cease operations”. The DGCA lifted the ban on Tuesday after a lengthy presentation by Boeing at the DGCA headquarters in New Delhi on replacement of batteries in the dreamliner aircraft.
“They (Boeing) are replacing the battery systems. Their engineers are alre-ady working at it. They have replaced the battery system in one dreamliner aircraft already.The replacement is being done by Boeing in accordance with the FAA suggestions on the matter,” top DGCA sources told this newspaper on Tuesday. The Air India board also met and is understood to have discussed the issue of re-sumption of Boeing 787 dreamliner operations.
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