Emirates A380 grounded

MANUFACTURING           AIRBUS           EMIRATES

Korea - Airbus said it will working with airlines that fly the A380 superjumbo to eradicate glitches plaguing the problematic jet after an Emirates plane was grounded at a South Korean airport this week.

The Emirates A380 was scheduled to take off for Dubai on Sunday but the flight was cancelled due to a technical problem in the plane's fuel system, said an official at the carrier's local PR agency.

The 19-hour delay forced some 420 passengers to stay at a hotel near the airport before they could leave on another plane sent by the carrier overnight.

"Initial investigations on site could not resolve the issue and a team of engineers and spare parts were sent... later," Lee Sang-Jin, manager of Emirates Korea, said in a statement.

Emirates currently owns seven A380s.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) previously signed an agreement to reduce oversight when it comes to safety on the Airbus A380. The agreement will see the two parties exchange information and analyses on airworthiness and flight operations matters, as well as address issues on the A380 operations to enhance the safety oversight of the A380 fleet in service.

The A380 has been in headlines for its technical difficulties in recent months. Air France's new A380 was grounded more than once last month while Singapore's SIA had to make a return trip to Paris for an electrical fault. A Qantas-operated A380 bound for LA was also grounded at Melbourne airport due to a problem with its fuel gauge last week.

________________________________________________________

Managing people? For HR and leadership strategy, Human Resources has it covered.

Get your marketing department up to speed with Asia's most read marketing site
marketing-interactive.com