Qantas jet grounded after wing cracks found

Qantas has taken one of its A380 jets out of action after hairline cracks were discovered in its wings.

The plane has been grounded at the airline's Mascot jet base since Sunday after engineers discovered 36 hairline cracks in its wings during inspections, Fairfax reported on Wednesday.

The airline said the cracks were not as serious as those discovered by the manufacturer, Airbus, last month that prompted European regulators to order urgent inspections of almost a third of the worldwide fleet within six weeks.

Qantas has found cracks in two double-deck A380s it has inspected so far.

The latest cracks - none longer than two centimetres - were discovered during routine checks of the A380 after it hit severe turbulence above India on a flight from London to Singapore on January 7.

A Qantas spokesperson said the cracks were not related to the turbulence but had been traced to a manufacturing issue at Airbus.

- AAP