All Nippon Airways has confirmed its Boeing 787 fleet will return to service from next month with the addition of three new Dreamliner routes.
Following the successful completion of a series of battery system modifications, safety checks and test flighs, ANA's B787s will take to the skies from June 1.
The Dreamliner will also be introduced on a further three international routes – Narita to Beijing and Shanghai, and Haneda to Taipei – bringing the number of overseas destinations served by the 787 to five.
Osamu Shinobe, ANA's president and CEO, said: “We are pleased to announce that our 787 aircraft will be reintroduced on scheduled flights from June onwards.
"ANA’s priority is the safety of our passengers. Our engineers have worked closely with Boeing to undertake the required improvements and we are fully satisfied with the safety of our 787 fleet.”
ANA will resume its Narita to San Jose and Narita to Seattle routes from June 1, while the Boeing 787 will be installed on the Handea to Frankfurt and Haneda to Beijing routes from the same date.
The Dreamliner will be added on the Haneda to Taipei (Songshan) and Narita to Beijing routes from June 1, and on the Narita to Shanghai (Pudong) route from August 1.
The Chubu (Nagoya) to Seoul (Incheon) and Kansai (Osaka) to Seoul (Incheon) routes will both remain suspended.
The Dreamliner will also be introduced on flights between Haneda and Akita on June 1 and flights between Haneda and Toyama on June 15. Due to summertime demand, ANA will also be operating additional 787 flights from July onwards, principally on Okinawa flight routes.
The three-month grounding of the Dreamliner began in mid-January due to the faulty battery system causing problems in two different planes operated by Japan Airlines and ANA (see online story, January 2013).
There are currently 50 Dreamliners operated by airlines around the world. All are expected to have been modified by mid-May.
A further 840 of the aircraft are on order and will come with the revamped battery system.
For more information, visit ana.co.jp.
Report by Graham Smith
