Japanese seeking 777s sooner as 787s stay grounded

JAPAN'S All Nippon Airways is in talks with US aircraft maker Boeing Co to speed up the delivery of three 777 jetliners as its fleet of 787 Dreamliner airplanes remains grounded with undiagnosed battery problems, yesterday's Nikkei newspaper said.

All 50 Boeing 787s worldwide remain grounded as authorities in the United States, Japan and France investigate a battery fire in Boston on January 7 and a battery failure that forced a second 787 to make an emergency landing in Japan a week later.

ANA had planned to add three Boeing 777 jets to its fleet in fiscal year 2013, but it will aim to get them delivered ahead of schedule to soften the negative impact from the Dreamliner grounding, Shinzo Shimizu, ANA's senior vice president told Nikkei. The airline is also considering keeping older Airbus 320 jets in service for longer, he said.

ANA, Asia's top airline by revenue, lost more than US$15 million in revenue from having to cancel Dreamliner flights last month. Earlier this week it said it was unclear when the plane would resume commercial flights, making it harder to predict the longer-term financial impact of having the plane idle.

ANA has canceled close to 850 flights until February 18.

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