China unaffected by Boeing 787 checks

Aviation regulators in Japan and India on Thursday joined their US counterparts in grounding Dreamliners after a Japanese domestic flight operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) made an emergency landing on Wednesday, when a pilot saw a warning message that indicated battery problems in the 787.

The emergency landing came on the heels of a series of problems involving the Boeing 787, and has raised safety concerns over the company's new fuel-efficient carbon fiber made model.

ANA replaced its only Boeing 787 flight to China, a daily flight between Tokyo and Beijing with seating for 222 passengers, with Boeing 767s starting on Thursday, said a press official with ANA's China office.

Boeing jets are currently the mainstay of China's air travel and cargo system. More than half of all commercial jetliners operating in China are Boeing airplanes.

The U.S. firm said it is confident the 787 is safe and it stands behind the aircraft's overall integrity.

"We will be taking every necessary step in the coming days to assure our customers and the traveling public of the 787's safety and to return the airplanes to service," Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney said in a statement.

Boeing forecast that China would need 5,260 new commercial airplanes by 2031, costing the country a total of $670 billion over the next 20 years, Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in September last year.