No decision yet on Air India's fleet of Dreamliners: DGCA

Aviation regulator DGCA on Saturday said it was keeping a close watch on the probe into the recent fire incident and "mechanical" trouble in two Dreamliners at the London Heathrow airport and no decision has been taken on Air India's fleet of these planes.

Aviation regulator DGCA on Saturday said it was keeping a close watch on the probe into the recent fire incident and "mechanical" trouble in two Dreamliners at the London Heathrow airport and no decision has been taken on Air India's fleet of these planes.

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"We are keeping a close watch in the investigations (at Heathrow). We will take a view (on Air India's fleet) only after we receive reports of the inquiry and know the causes behind these incidents," DGCA chief Arun Mishra said in New Delhi.

The two incidents – a fire on board a parked Boeing 787 and another plane returning to the airport soon after take-off on suspicion of a "mechanical" problem – came less than two months since the Dreamliners again took the skies after remaining grounded globally for over four months following battery fire incidents.

Boeing withdrew the Dreamliner from service from airlines across the world in January to carry out modifications in the lithium ion battery packs after the fire incidents. They were allowed to be flown again in May after the changes were carried out.

Air India, which now has seven Boeing 787s out of a total of 27 on order, has pinned its hopes on the new-generation aircraft which are increasingly being used to operate several of its new and existing global routes.

The aircraft are also servicing Air India's domestic routes like Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Bangalore and Delhi-Kolkata.