UPDATED

The 787 groundings continue, with ANA extending its grounding of the aircraft further.

Currently, the following airlines have grounded their fleets until at least the minimum dates:

• All Nippon Airlines – 31st May 2013
• Air India  – 31st March 2013
• Ethiopian Airlines  – 31st March 2013
• Japan Airlines – 31st March 2013
• LAN Chile – 31st March 2013
• LOT – October 2013  (all 787 removed from GDS’s according to AirlineRoutes)
• Qatar Airways  – 31st March 2013
• United Airlines – 5th June 2013

These suspension dates are subject to Boeing deploying fixes to the 787 fleet that the Federal Aviation Administration deems as addressing the issues with the batteries that have plauged the Dreamliner.

The worldwide fleet of 50 aircraft remain grounded until the proposed fix that Boeing are looking at has been approved and deployed, with no new deliveries made since the grounding of the fleet on 16th January.

Updated: 14:06GMT with LOT Grounding update.

In a cascade effect, more Civil Aviation agencies and airlines are pulling their Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleets

Known grounding so far (Latest ones at the bottom):

• All Nippon Airlines  (17 aircraft)
• Japan Airlines  (7 aircraft)
• United Airlines  (6 aircraft)
• LAN Airlines (3 Aircraft)
• LOT Polish Airlines (2 aircraft)
• Qatar Airways (5 Aircraft
• Air India (6 Aircraft)
• Ethiopian Airlines (4 Aircraft)

Ethiopian was the last airline to ground its 787 fleet.

This makes a total of 50 out of 50 aircraft sitting on the ground.

The grounding of the Boeing 787 is due to two lithium ion battery pack incidents that start the Auxiliary Power Unit on-board the 787 (the JAL incident in Boston where the pack caught fire, and the ANA incident in Japan where there battery pack leaked whilst in flight).

For now, it’s between the FAA and Boeing to hammer out what has happened, what can happen and what will need to be done to get these aircraft back into the air.

As Boeing 787s are making their way out to airlines at a reasonable rate, the first European Airlines to receive one has now been delivered to LOT Polish Airlines.

LOT Polish Airlines 787 – Image: The Boeing Company.

LOT are pretty excited about the 787, with Marcin Pirog, chief executive officer of LOT stating:

“This is a historic moment for LOT”

“I am convinced that the addition of the Dreamliner to the fleet of one of the world’s oldest airlines is a crucial moment that will launch a new era of European aviation. I believe it is also the beginning of an exciting journey for LOT with the most modern passenger airplane in the world.”

Now the press blurb is out of the way, lets get onto more important things – like routes and configurations.

LOT will be operating their 787′s initially on short haul European routes in December. However – no confirmed flights have been set for Europe yet.

In terms of Long Haul Deployments, Warsaw to Chicago will be the first service, along with the following subject to delivery of aircraft:

•  Warsaw – Chicago from 16th January 2013
• Warsaw – Toronto from 1st February 2013
• Warsaw – New York JFK from 3rd February 2013
• Warsaw – Beijing from 3rd March 2013

Especially when it comes to 787 deployments, watch for short changes dependant on aircraft delivery.

In terms of seating, LOT are operating the planes in a 3 class service with 252 seats.:

• 18 Elite Club seats (Business Class) in a 2-2-2 configuration
• 21 Premium Club seats (Premium Economy)  in a 2-3-2 configuration
• 213 seats in Economy Class in a 3-3-3 configuration

This delivery is the first of eight Dreamliners that LOT has on order.

Well I did say that 787 will start becoming common sooner rather than later. But its still nice to see a new operator take delivery of the aircraft.