Boeing informs clients about delay in 787 deliveries

New York, Feb 8 (AFP) Boeing said today that it had informed buyers of its troubled 787 Dreamliner that deliveries would be delayed as US air safety experts investigate two burned battery incidents on the aircraft. "We have informed our customers expecting 787 deliveries in the near term that those aircraft either have been or are at risk of being delayed," a company spokesman said in an email to AFP. The statement came even as Norwegian Air Shuttle, one of the main 787 customers in Europe, today pressed Boeing on delivery of the 787, the company's newest aircraft. "As one of Boeing's biggest customers in Europe, we expect that the aircraft manufacturer does everything in its power to get the aircraft ready for delivery as soon as possible," the airline's chief executive Bjoern Kjos said in a statement. On January 16, the 50 Dreamliners in service around the world were grounded after a battery fire on a parked Japan Airlines (JAL) plane and battery smoke on an All Nippon Airways flight forced an emergency landing. Two days later, Boeing suspended deliveries of the aircraft until further notice, but continued production. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the US Federal Aviation Authority, and Japanese and French authorities are investigating the cause of the battery incidents. The NTSB yesterday suggested it could be weeks before it reaches a conclusion on what caused the battery fire aboard a JAL 787 at Boston's Logan International Airport on January 7. That could be key to the FAA allowing 787s to resume flying. (AFP) KKM KKM 02090014 NNNN