{"id":754977,"date":"2026-06-23T12:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/754977\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:05:19","slug":"airbus-a380-wing-cracks-emergency-inspections-ordered-for-global-fleet-including-qantas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/754977\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbus A380 wing cracks: Emergency inspections ordered for global fleet including Qantas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chris<\/p>\n

Updated June 23, 2026 \u2014 8:14pm,first published 6:26pm<\/p>\n

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A number of Airbus A380 superjumbos around the world are set to be grounded for emergency inspections after Europe\u2019s air safety regulator detected cracks in an internal part of the plane\u2019s wing.<\/p>\n

Qantas has one A380 that will require inspection before it can be cleared again for flight following the directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.<\/p>\n

\"AA Qantas A380: Issues around the world\u2019s largest passenger plane continue.AP<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been determined that the cracks found on certain aeroplanes could reduce the structural integrity of the wing,\u201d the agency wrote in its emergency airworthiness directive.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo address this potential unsafe condition, Airbus determined that an additional special detailed inspection has to be accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

The safety agency requires operators of the affected A380s, identified by their serial numbers, to perform detailed inspections within strict compliance deadlines before the planes can continue flying.<\/p>\n

A380s are the world\u2019s biggest passenger planes. Their wings have front and rear spars (essentially the lengthwise metal bar of the wing) as well as mid-spars. Inspecting the metal would require engineers to gain entry inside the wing, through the fuel tank, to inspect it, an industry source said.<\/p>\n

\"EmiratesEmirates flies more A380 planes than any other airline in the world.iStock<\/p>\n

The affected Qantas plane, with the registration VH-OQI, flew on March 8 from London Heathrow to Dresden, Germany, where it has remained since, according to global flight tracker FlightAware.<\/p>\n

A Qantas spokesman said the plane was in heavy maintenance, and there was \u201cno impact to Qantas flights\u201d from the airworthiness directive.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Project<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe aircraft was already in scheduled maintenance and we will comply with any additional requirements as a result of this airworthiness directive,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n

Qantas operates 10 A380s, of which nine are listed in service. Dubai-based Emirates \u2013 which is Qantas\u2019 code-share partner on some flights to Europe \u2013 has a fleet of 116 A380s, of which 97 are in service, according to the Planespotters website.<\/p>\n

The safety agency identified two groups of A380s: one group required inspection before the next flight and a second group \u201cwithin 25 flight cycles\u201d, which the affected Qantas plane falls under.<\/p>\n

Airbus said an earlier airworthiness directive instructed airlines to inspect the A380s\u2019 mid-spars but more specific findings have prompted the plane manufacturer to inform the safety agency and recommend inspections on the affected planes.<\/p>\n

Five aircraft require immediate inspection, Airbus said. Depending on the inspection results, Airbus will assess with the safety agency whether repairs are needed.<\/p>\n

The news of the emergency inspections comes amid reports that Qantas is eyeing a replacement for its A380s, which could be either Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s.<\/p>\n

Qantas\u2019 A380s, which are popular with passengers for their roomier cabins, have had other issues in recent times, including a wing slat which peeled loose<\/a> on a flight to Los Angeles in December.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Airbus also announced it was inspecting A380s for wing-spar cracking, an issue Emirates had reported finding, particularly in planes that had been stored during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Civil Aviation Safety Authority backed the European agency\u2019s move and published an urgent airworthiness directive for local airlines.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"QF10<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAll European Emergency Airworthiness Directives automatically apply to all Australian registered aircraft and we also distributed the directive to industry today,\u201d CASA said in a statement.<\/p>\n

One Australian expert with direct knowledge of the situation described the detected spar cracks as \u201cserious enough if they\u2019ve brought out an emergency airworthiness directive.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately for the Airbus A380, they\u2019ve suddenly had quite a few wing-cracking issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day\u2019s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"ChrisChris Zappone<\/a> is a senior reporter covering aviation and business. He is former digital foreign editor.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated June 23, 2026 \u2014 8:14pm,first published 6:26pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-754977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}