National carrier Air India on Monday announced that their Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft would resume operations on the Chennai–New Delhi sector from Tuesday.
The aircraft, bought by Air India, was grounded across the country in January this year, after a Dreamliner made an emergency landing in Japan on January 16, following apprehensions of a fire due to battery failure.
The directorate general of civil aviation had then ordered Air India to ground all its Dreamliner aircrafts, and the one flying the Chennai-New Delhi sector was grounded at Chennai airport.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, the manufacturer has now replaced the problematic batteries with new ones in all Dreamliner aircrafts across the world, after which they were cleared for operations, Air India sources said. Air India said its daily flight AI 439, operated with the Dreamliner aircraft, will leave New Delhi at 6.55 a.m. and arrive in Chennai at 9.45 a.m. Returning flight AI 430 will leave Chennai at 10.45 a.m. and reach New Delhi at 1.30 p.m.
The state-of-the art aircraft has 256 seats including 18 business class seats. It offers maximum comfort to passengers with spacious cabins, wide seats, big windows and large luggage bins with variable lighting.