Biggest customer for Airbus A380, Emirates has inspected four of its superjumbo planes

New directive doesn’t affect operations

The European Aviation Safety Agency ordered Wednesday that all  68 worldwide Airbus A380 superjumbo planes be checked for wing cracks, even as the aircraft manufacturer insisted there was nothing to worry about. The new directive extends an earlier check of 20 A380 jets, whose wings are made in North Wales, ordered by the EASA last month.

Airbus reiterated the “safe operation of the Airbus A380 planes is not affected”.

EASA confirmed that A380s which have flown more than 1,384 flights will need inspections within three weeks of of 13 February.

Those with between 1,216 and 1,384 will need to be seen within six weeks of that date.

Planes with fewer than 1,216 recorded flights will be inspected at the next routine maintenance interval, it added.

The move came as Qantas Airways, Australia’s largest carrier, suspended the use of one of its Airbus A380 passenger jets after discovering 36 small cracks in key wing components.

Qantas workers found the cracks, measuring less than 2cm long, in the wing rib feet – the metal brackets that connect the wing’s ribs to its skin. Each A380 wing has around 2,000 of the feet within it, although Airbus insists only a “handful” of feet have been affected.

Dubai based Emirates airline, the biggest customer for the A380, said it has inspected four of its A380s and that the new directive doesn’t affect operations.

Emirates airline has ordered 90 of the $375 million jetliner, and already operates 20 in its fleet. Qantas Airways Ltd. is the second-largest customer for the A380, with 12.

A total of 253 A380s have been ordered by 19 customers, so far. Besides Emirates, Singapore and Qantas, the Airbus A380 aircraft is operated by Air France KLM Group, which has has eight, while Deutsche Lufthansa AG has six, Korean Air Lines Co. has five, and China Southern Co. has two. The aircraft has two levels and typically seats about 550 passengers.