Ethiopian Airline said it had not experienced any technical issues with the aircraft but opted to temporarily pull its 787 fleet out of service for precautionary inspection.
Ethiopian Airline has temporarily grounded its Boeing 787 Dreamliners amid safety concerns raised by recent events in the US and Japan.
In a statement issued on Thursday the airline said it had not experienced any technical issues with the aircraft but opted to temporarily pull its 787 fleet out of service for precautionary inspection as advised by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Ethiopian was the first airline in Africa to receive the Dreamliner and has four in its fleet.
“Ethiopian Dreamliners have not encountered the type of problems such as those experienced by other operations. However, as an extra precautionary safety measure and in line with its commitment of putting safety above all else, Ethiopian has decided to pull out its four Dreamliners from operation and perform the special inspection requirement mandated by the US FAA,” the statement read.
The US FAA on Wednesday issued a directive to operators to perform special inspection on the Dreamliners airplane battery system following incidents reported in the past two weeks by operators.
On Wednesday Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) made an emergency landing after a battery problem triggered a cockpit error message.
This prompted ANA and Japan Airlines Co to ground all their Dreamliner planes after a series of incidents that started last year. Earlier an empty B787 had caught fire in Boston leading to the FAA ordering a comprehensive review of the aircrafts critical system.
Despite the technical issues Kenya Airways has maintained that it will continue with its plan to buy the Dreamliners. The airline has ordered nine B787-8, with the first delivery expected before the end of the year.
“We have not postponed neither have we cancelled our orders for the Dreamliners,” Kenya Airways said in a statement earlier in the week.
Kenya Airways is counting on the Dreamliners fuel efficiency and more cargo space achieved by increased use of lighter plastic materials in place of metals to help it cut its costs.
The aircraft is key in its expansion plans targeting more destinations in Asia, Middle East and the Far East.
The airline signed a purchase agreement with the Chicago-based Boeing in 2006 for supply of the nine Dreamliners with an option of buying four more units of the aircraft.
On Friday, Australian based Qantas cuts its Dreamliner order by one to 14, with the first expected in mid-2013.
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