Graham Smith

Ethiopian Airlines has ordered a further eight Boeing 787s, less than two months after one of its Dreamliners caught fire at Heathrow.

The African carrier already has five B787s in its fleet. It previously had five more on order, a figure that has now increased to 13.

Both LHR runways were closed for 90 minutes in July after smoke was spotted coming from towards the rear of an Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner.

Investigators sourced the fire to a battery in the emergency locator transmitter used to find missing aircraft following a crash.

In January, the B787 was grounded for three months due to another faulty battery system causing problems in two different planes operated by Japan Airlines and ANA.

Ethiopian Airlines then became the first carrier to again operate a commercial B787 flight, between Addis Ababa and Nairobi, Kenya.

Ethiopian’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam today said: “The airplane is undergoing a challenging time to mature, but it’s improving.

“I have strong confidence in this airplane. It is the future in aviation.”

Source: Business Traveller