WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Honeywell International Inc said it had no orders to temporarily remove its emergency locator beacons from Boeing Co 787s, but would comply if asked to do so.

Investigators have been looking at whether a lithium manganese battery in the Honeywell emergency locator transmitter (ELT) may have caused or contributed to the fire that damaged a parked Ethiopian Airlines jet last Friday.

Honeywell said it was responding to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which it said was based on "anonymous speculation", and said the company had not been contacted by Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) or by United States authorities involved in the investigation.

However, spokesman Steve Brecken said the company put safety first and "would support an action like this as a precautionary measure if our team, or the AAIB and NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board), determine it's necessary to do so".