The UK Royal Air Force has resumed flight operations using its Airbus A330 Voyager tanker/transport aircraft after a temporary suspension was lifted.
AirTanker, the consortium of manufacturers behind the aircraft, said that the restoration of flight operations on 21 February after suspension since 9 February was an operational decision, according to Flightglobal.
Assigned to RAF 10 and 101 squadrons, the Voyager fleet was temporarily grounded following an in-flight incident over Turkey, which left several passengers injured.
The incident, which occurred while the aircraft was en route to Afghanistan, was described by AirTanker as "an unscheduled change of flight level".
"While an investigation remains ongoing, we are unable to comment as to the cause of the incident," AirTanker added.
Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 772B jet engines, the Voyager aircraft is designed to replace the RAF’s existing L-1011 and VC10 tanker/transport aircraft.
The AirTanker consortium comprises EADS (40%), Cobham (13.33%), Rolls-Royce (20%), Thales (13.33%) and VT Aerospace (13.33%).
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