Thomson Airways’ Boeing 787 flights departed as normal today from Manchester and Gatwick following a technical problem yesterday which forced an Orlando-bound Dreamliner to return to Manchester.
The Tui Travel-owned carrier confirmed: “All three 787 aircraft will fly today as scheduled.”
Thomson did not give details of the problem aboard the 787 which returned to Manchester yesterday shortly after takeoff.
However, it appears the problem did not involve the aircraft’s batteries.
The incident has been linked in media reports to the fire aboard an Ethiopian Airlines 787 at Heathrow yesterday which, in turn, followed fires in the batteries of two Japanese-operated Dreamliners in January.
Thomson Airways said: “The aircraft that returned to Manchester as a precautionary measure has had a small number of components replaced. It has been fully tested and will depart from Manchester at 9.50am to Cancun.
“The other two [787] aircraft have also been fully tested and fly from Gatwick to Sanford, Florida, and Palma this morning.”
Thomson said: “We want to reassure our customers that we have every confidence in this aircraft. The safety of our customers and crew is of paramount importance to us.”
Passengers aboard the aircraft which returned to Manchester were flown to Sanford on another aircraft.
Thomson began operating Dreamliner long-haul services to Orlando and Cancun last Monday after making more than 250 short-haul flights around Europe with the aircraft.
The world’s Boeing 787 fleet was grounded for more than three months following the fires in January.
The Dreamliner returned to service in May following work to isolate the lithium-ion batteries which power the aircraft systems and contain any overheating.