Ethiopian Airlines has confirmed it has temporarily suspended use of its Boeing 787s following FAA’s emergency airworthiness directive issued on the aircraft.
This means that all eight 787 operators have now grounded their aircraft.
Ethiopian, which has four Dreamliners, said it was fully cooperating with FAA’s directive to perform special inspections on the aircraft’s battery system.
“Ethiopian Dreamliners have not encountered the type of problems such as those experienced by the other operators. 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 requirements mandated by FAA,” the airline said.
Ethiopian added it has been operating the 787 since mid-August last year and the aircraft has performed well with “record high daily aircraft utilization” averaging 14 hours.