Japan Airlines (JAL) has further extended the suspension of its Boeing 787 operations to 31 May, three days after a similar announcement from its peer All Nippon Airways.
The carrier will be deploying Boeing 777-200ER aircraft on services between Tokyo Narita and Boston, San Diego and Moscow, previously operated using 787-8s.
Its services from Tokyo to Singapore will be operated using Boeing 767-300ER, while its Boeing 737-800s will be deployed on the Tokyo Haneda-Beijing route.
JAL had previously suspended its 787 operations till 30 March. This announcement is an indication that the carrier expects the problematic aircraft to stay grounded for at least another three months.
The carrier had also said that it could delay the retirement of two 767 aircraft to cope with the impact of the grounding of its seven 787s. It has another 18 -8s and 20 -9s on order.
Flightglobal Pro reported on 28 February that Boeing will be briefing its 787 customers on 1 March in Seattle on the interim solution that it has proposed for the still-undiagnosed battery problems, which have grounded the worldwide fleet of 787s since 16 January.
The briefing is expected to give existing operators, including JAL, a clearer indication of when they will be able to resume operations. Airlines due to receive their 787s in the coming months will also hear what will be done to fix their aircraft before delivery.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
