US FAA approves new battery system for Boeing 787 Dreamliner

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved a new system of lithium ion batteries for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, three months after flights of the aircraft were suspended due to battery fires.

The FAA ruling applies, technically speaking, only to United Airlines, which is the only airline in the US that owns any 787s. The FAA calculates that the cost of repairing the six Dreamliner aircraft owned by United will be about $2.8 million.

The other US airlines that have ordered 787s also will have to adhere to the new regulation and so will the authorities across the world, including in Europe and Japan.

In January, over a period of less than two weeks, there were two separate incidents caused by fires starting in the batteries in Dreamliner aircraft.

The planes in question are in the fleets of Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, another Japanese carrier, which together own almost half of the 50 Dreamliners delivered to date.