Airbus said on Wednesday it was supporting inspections on a subset of A380 aircraft after Europe’s aviation regulator ordered urgent checks on the jets’ wing structures.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published an emergency airworthiness directive on Monday requiring inspections of 16 A380 aircraft, warning about cracks present in wing spars that would affect structural integrity.
The directive requires five planes to be inspected before next flight, with the remaining ones to be checked inside 25 flight cycles.
Fifteen of the affected aircraft are operated by Emirates and one by Australia’s Qantas, in accordance with flight tracking service Flightradar24, based on the manufacturer serial numbers listed within the directive.
Emirates didn’t reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Airbus said it had identified a smaller group of aircraft with similar operating histories and was supporting inspections on those jets.
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“Depending on the inspection results, Airbus will assess with EASA whether repairs are mandatory or if the aircraft can return to industrial service,” an organization spokesperson said.
EASA said cracks found on certain aircraft could reduce the structural integrity of the wing.
The A380, nicknamed “superjumbo”, is the world’s largest passenger airliner. Airbus ended production of the jet in 2021 as demand for the model, introduced in 2007, waned.