Qatar Airways has become the first airline to resume Dreamliner flights to the UK today after a four-month gap due to the 787’s grounding over safety fears.
Qatar’s Dreamliner flight from Doha touched down at Heathrow at around 1120 – the first 787 service to land at the airport since January due to problems with onboard batteries overheating.
Ethiopian Airlines had been due to be the first carrier to resume Dreamliner flights to Heathrow last week but changed its plans at the last minute and is now scheduled to fly the aircraft from Addis Ababa to Heathrow from June 16.
Before then, Air India is due to start daily Dreamliner flights from Delhi to Heathrow from May 22. United is also scheduled to put the 787 on its Houston to Heathrow route from June 10.
Boeing has announced that it has resumed deliveries of new 787s with the handing over of an aircraft to ANA.
Randy Tinseth, vice president marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said: “Despite the disruption in deliveries over the past several months, we still expect to deliver all the 787s we originally planned to by the end of the year.”
Tour operator Thomson is due to become the first UK travel company to receive the aircraft later this month. It plans to put the Dreamliner into service on its charter flights from mid-July when it will fly to Orlando and Cancun.
BA is also scheduled to receive its first 787s in the next few weeks, although it has not announced on which routes it will use the aircraft.
For more information, visit qatarairways.com.
Report by Rob Gill
