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Air India is hopeful of getting its six Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) aircraft back in the air by the middle of April this year, aviation industry sources indicated.
The State-owned airline had grounded the six newest aircraft in its fleet on January 17, following a directive from the US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
This follows a recent meeting in the US attended by regulators of the countries that were operating the aircraft, airline officials and FAA officials.
The meeting was informed that a ‘permanent fix’ to the problem with the lithium-ion batteries was likely to be in place by March-end.
When in operation, the aircraft was earning daily revenue of around Rs 2 crore for the airline.
The re-induction of the aircraft will be good news for the airline, which has maintained that Boeing 787 will help its turn around its financial fortunes.
The airline has been reporting losses since the past few years.
Ajit Singh, Civil Aviation Minister, told Parliament that the provisional loss incurred by Air India during 2011-12 was about Rs 7,853.94 crore.
The cumulative loss suffered by it since April 1, 2007 till March 31, 2012 was about Rs 28,000 crore, he added.
>ashwini.phadnis@thehindu.co.in
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