More examples of A380 cracks, repairs under way

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Singapore Airlines said on Monday it had found examples of recently identified wing cracks in all six of the Airbus A380s on which it carried out mandatory inspections, as a senior pilot issued reassurance over the superjumbo's safety.

The discovery of more instances of cracked wing components was expected after Airbus said last week it had found the problem and predicted that until it had time to conduct repairs, a consistent pattern would emerge in further tests.

The European planemaker and airlines insist the world's largest airliner is safe to fly, but are keen to move beyond the issue of small cracks in wing brackets that grabbed media attention and triggered compulsory checks last week.

The European Aviation Safety Agency ordered carriers to inspect almost a third of the global fleet of A380s, starting with six jets operated by Singapore Airlines, to check for one of two types of cracks that emerged in the space of weeks.

"We found cracks in all six," the airline's regional public relations manager for Europe, Peter Tomasch, said during a press event at Frankfurt Airport.

"Four we have repaired and they are flying again. The other two will follow in the coming days."

EASA ordered the most urgent checks on aircraft that had carried out at least 1,800 takeoffs and landings; the six Singapore Airlines aircraft fell into this category.

The agency gave airlines six weeks to perform checks on a second category of jets that had between 1,300 and 1,800 takeoffs and landings, and did not order checks on less heavily used aircraft.

Boeing Unlikely to Benefit

Analysts say publicity over the cracks is unlikely to benefit Airbus rival Boeing in the short term as airlines base their decisions on whether to buy the $390 million jet on the economics of its anticipated performance over many years.

However, some say the problems for Airbus and parent EADS could deepen if the response diverts scarce engineering resources or passengers balk at flying on the jet. So far no airlines operating the A380 have reported any dip in bookings.

In a bulletin known as an airworthiness directive, EASA last week gave Singapore Airlines, Dubai's Emirates and Air France six weeks to examine a further 14 aircraft.

In total, 68 superjumbos are in operation and a total of 253 have been sold.

Airbus says the cracks were discovered long before they posed a potential safety hazard, but it faces a bill for the checks and repairs which are being carried out at its expense.

"The inspection and repairs are well under way and continuing, in line with the airworthiness directive," a spokeswoman said.

"Airbus is supplying repair kits as well as providing technical and logistical support to our customers".