Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes flight in Japan for first time since battery fire

April 28, 2013: Japanese journalists gather to cover a test flight of an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo. (AP)

TOKYO – Japan's All Nippon Airways has successfully conducted its first test flight of the Boeing 787 aircraft since battery problems grounded the planes earlier this year.

Ray Conner, president of Boeing's consumer airline division, and ANA President Shinichiro Ito were aboard the flight Sunday.

The aircraft safely completed a two-hour flight before returning to Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

Batteries aboard two 787s failed less than two weeks apart in January, causing a fire aboard one plane and smoke in another. The root cause of those problems is still unknown.

Boeing has since developed and tested a revamped version of the battery system, with changes designed to prevent and contain a fire.

Japan's transport ministry approved Boeing's modifications Friday following similar steps by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.