JAL to cancel 38 int'l flights in March after Boeing 787

grounding Tokyo, Feb 12 (KYODO) Japan Airlines company said Tuesday it will cancel 38 flights on two of its international routes from March 1 to 30 due to the global grounding of all Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets. An estimated 3,020 passengers are expected to be affected by the cancellations on the routes linking the Narita International Airport outside Tokyo with Boston and San Diego in the United States, JAL said. JAL and other airline All Nippon Airways had earlier grounded their Dremaliners following a smoke incident reported in both flights. While on January 7, 2013 a JAL flight was grounded in Boston after a 787 battery incident, it was soon followed by the grounding of a ANA flight which also reported similar incident. The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) following these cases had asked America's airlines to ground all the Boeing 787, due to safety hazard following a potential battery fire risk. Regulators in Japan, India and Chile taking the lead of the FAA too had ordered an indefinite halt to all operations, after the ANA plane was forced into an emergency landing in Japan. (KYODO) KND 02121535 NNNN