Airbus has been ordered to check all A380 superjumbo planes currently in service, after cracks were found in wing components. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has ordered all 68 Airbus A380 superjumbo planes currently in operation to be checked.
It extends an earlier check of 20 A380 jets, whose wings are made in North Wales, ordered by the EASA in January. Airbus have reiterated that the "safe operation of the A380 planes is not affected". Qantas, Australia's largest carrier, said it had suspended the use of one of its Airbus A380 passenger jets for as long as a week, after discovering 36 small cracks in key wing components.
Singapore Airlines, which took delivery of the first A380, has also repaired some of its superjumbos after finding cracks, and has since put them back into operation. EASA confirmed that the new round of inspections will begin with A380 planes which are approaching the 1,300 flights mark, which will have to be inspected within six weeks of 13 February.
Those aircraft which have flown more than 1,384 flights will need inspections within three weeks of this date. Planes with fewer than 1,300 recorded flights will be inspected at the next routine maintenance interval, it added.
The A380 was first unveiled in January 2005, but production delays meant deliveries did not start until October 2007. In addition to Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Air France are among the firm's biggest customers for the jet. There are currently 253 A380 jets on order to carriers worldwide.
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