Japan’s transportation minister said on Friday the government will issue a technical directive on Friday that would permit Boeing Co to resume flights of its grounded 787 Dreamliner jets.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gave formal approval on Thursday for a new lithium-ion battery system for Boeing’s Dreamliner, ending a three-month ban and clearing airlines to fly the plane with passengers again.

The planes, grounded for more than three months now, will be ready to fly soon based on changes Boeing has submitted to the FAA for the architecture of the battery systems and their operation. The FAA approved the plans last Friday and expects to issue a formal set of guidelines to the airlines so that the approved changes can be implemented and the planes returned to operation. Ultimately this FAA approval marks a huge step forward for Boeing, for the airlines, and for passengers.

In a statement FAA Administrator Michael Huerta described the significance of the redesign testing and validation, saying “A team of FAA certification specialists observed rigorous tests we required Boeing to perform and devoted weeks to reviewing detailed analysis of the design changes to reach this decision.” The FAA approval is unqualified, meaning the planes will be permitted to operate the same long-haul routes they were authorized for prior to the grounding; previous speculation suggested they might be restricted. The testing of the systems has been on-going since mid-March when the FAA approved the test plan for the batteries.