New Dreamliner hitch for Boeing

Boeing's Dreamliner woes continued yesterday when, less than a week after a 787 was forced to land due to an engine problem, a second jet had to be diverted because of a mechanical glitch.

The Dreamliner returned to the skies only last month after the entire fleet was grounded for four months over battery problems and safety fears. But yesterday a United Airways flight to Denver was forced to return to Houston over a faulty brake indicator.

The unscheduled landing followed other problems with a United flight last week, when a 787 en route to Tokyo from Denver was diverted to Seattle because of a fault with an oil filter.

The first UK passengers took a flight on the troubled new £150m jet when Thomson Airways flew 290 passengers from Gatwick to Menorca on Friday. The carrier has ordered eight Dreamliners.

British Airways takes delivery of the first two of its 24 Dreamliners at Heathrow tomorrow, while Virgin Atlantic is due to get the first of its 16 in September.