Ethiopian grounds its 787s
DRIVING AVIATION DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
FOLLOWING THE directive of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Ethiopian Airlines temporarily pulled its four Boeing 787 Dreamliners out of service for precautionary inspection on Thursday, 17 January, 2013. The US FAA issued a directive on 16 January, 2013, that mandated operators to perform special inspection requirements on the Dreamliner airplane battery system in accordance with a method approved by it. This directive was issued following recent incidents that occurred on Dreamliner airplanes operated by two other airlines.
According to Ethiopian, its Dreamliners had not encountered the type of problems such as those experienced by the other operators. However, as a precautionary measure and in line with its commitment of putting safety above all else, Ethiopian decided to ground its Dreamliners from operation and perform the special inspection requirements mandated by the US FAA.
The airline has been operating the Dreamliner since mid-August last year. In addition, the Ethiopian Dreamliners have been performing well in their five months service logging a record length of non-stop flights. It has also had a record high daily aircraft utilization in the airline industry. Since it first received the Dreamliner, Ethiopian has logged 5,560 flight hours with an average daily aircraft utilization of 14 hours.
Ethiopian is working closely with US manufacturer Boeing to comply with the FAA-approved special inspection procedure on the battery system and perform the maintenance as per the directive. The airline aims to return the Dreamliners to service as soon as possible, after full compliance with the new procedure.
Ethiopian Airlines recently announced that it had successfully integrated its four 787 Dreamliner aircraft into its fleet. It was the first African carrier and the third airline in the world to own and operate the Dreamliner. The Dreamliners were deployed on Ethiopian’s scheduled flights to Johannesburg, Washington, DC, Toronto, Frankfurt, Beijing, Lusaka and Harare, alternating with Ethiopian’s Boeing 777-200LR.
In fact, Ethiopian Airlines is the only carrier in the world, which has reached the design range capabilities of the Dreamliner by flying the aircraft from Washington DC to Addis Ababa (11,500 km), which is the longest non-stop commercial service in record for the fleet.
"We are pleased with the performance of our Dreamliners. It is a highly capable and safe aircraft, which has enabled Ethiopian to enhance its service. The feedback from our passengers has been overwhelmingly positive and in some instances contributed to higher than expected passenger load factors on routes it has been deployed," said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian. "However, like any new technology aircraft entering into service, it is normal to encounter some minor bugs here and there, which are causing some technical delays in departures as extra time is needed to correct them," he added.
Ethiopian was due to receive its fifth Dreamliner in March, 2013, with the remaining five due to be phased-in in 2014. However, this schedule is likely to be changed.
Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing airline in Africa, made its maiden international flight to Cairo in 1946 and now provides services to 70 international destinations spanning four continents. ●
– AFRICAN AVIATION NEWS
Tewolde GebreMariam (centre), Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines, during the welcoming ceremony in Addis Ababa for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
