Overview
- The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued an emergency airworthiness directive on June 22 that took effect on June 24 ordering inspections of 16 A380s because cracks were found in the internal wing mid‑spars.
- The directive splits the fleet into two groups: five Emirates A380s must be inspected before their next commercial flight and the other 11 plus one Qantas aircraft must be checked within 25 flight cycles, with ferry flights allowed to reposition jets for maintenance.
- Airbus supplied a special, detailed mid‑spar inspection programme and requires operators to report results within seven days and to repair any structural discrepancies before returning aircraft to service.
- Emirates said it will begin inspections within 48 hours and complete required work before returning jets to service, and Qantas confirmed its affected aircraft (VH‑OQI) is already in heavy maintenance in Dresden and will comply with the directive without affecting schedules.
- The action echoes earlier A380 wing‑structure checks from 2012 and 2019 and reflects growing maintenance demands for the ageing A380 fleet, which could raise repair workloads and maintenance costs as more aircraft reach higher flight hours.