Lightning-zapped Dreamliner back in the sky

Air New Zealand's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that was hit by lightning last week. File photo / Peter Meecham

The Air New Zealand Dreamliner knocked out of action after being struck by lightning was back in service today, flying from Auckland to Sydney.

The plane was coming in to land in Perth last Thursday when it was hit by a bolt of lightning, leaving scorch marks on the plane's body, the Aviation Herald reported.

It was grounded in Perth for two days but came back to Auckland on Saturday where it was further inspected by airline engineers who worked in conjunction with Boeing experts.

New technology has bean used in the Dreamliner to prevent damage from lightning strikes which Boeing says hit every aircraft once a year on average.

Much of the 787 is made of carbon fibre so Boeing has has embedded metal mesh in it to conduct electricity from from the plane and avoid damage. Traditional aluminium aircraft are naturally more conductive, and lightning is dissipated through the plane's surfaces and discharges to earth.

Dreamliners are made of 50 per cent of composites, 20 per cent aluminium, 15 per cent titanium and 10 per cent steel, primarily in the landing gear.

Air New Zealand has 10 of the 787-900s on order and will tomorrow start flying to Japan using the aircraft.