Recall orders for the Airbus A380 were issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and affect 68 superjumbos currently flying with seven airlines.

Under the extended order, planes which have flown more than 1,300 takeoff and landing cycles will have to be inspected within three weeks. Those which have not yet done so will have to be checked before they do.

Already in January, EASA issued a so-called airworthiness directive calling for a "detailed visual inspection" of 20 Airbus superjumbos after cracks were found in the wings of Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Air France planes.

EASA spokesman Dominique Fouda said the decision to extend the order was made "given the first results" of the inspections, but added that he didn't have details on how many cracks have been found in total.

The move came after a new type of crack appeared in a plane operated by Australia's Qantas.

No air safety threat

The plane, which was grounded in Sydney last month, showed cracks in the metal brackets that connect the wing's rib to its skin.

The plane had encountered "severe turbulence" over India, a Qantas spokesman said, but the cracking had to be "traced back to a manufacturing issue."

The 36 hairline cracks to the wing rib feet found by Qantas workers are not the same type of crack as those that prompted EASA's first directive in January.

Last month. Airbus vice president Tom Williams said that the tiny wing cracks could be "easily repaired."

He blamed design and manufacturing issues for the problem, adding that "the cracks do not compromise the airworthiness of the aircraft."

Author: Uwe Hessler (AP, AFP, dpa)
Editor: Michael Lawton