Emirates A380 bound for Sydney forced to divert and land in Adelaide on Monday night

A huge Airbus A380 made a guest appearance at Adelaide Airport on Monday night after the Emirates flight from Dubai was forced to make an unexpected landing.

An Emirates Airbus A380. Picture: Supplied

An Emirates A380 bound for Sydney was forced to divert and land in Adelaide on Monday night.

It is understood a medical emergency – reportedly a passenger with chest pains who was taken to hospital in Adelaide – forced flight EK 414 to change its destination.

It departed Dubai on its way to Sydney but instead landed at Adelaide Airport just before 9pm.

The flight then left Adelaide for Sydney at 10.45pm on Monday.

The A380 aircraft is the world’s largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner.

In August 2023, an A380 made an unscheduled appearance at the Adelaide Airport after a mid-air emergency on an international Qantas flight.

Qantas flight QF82, an Airbus A380, left Singapore and was scheduled to land in Sydney but was diverted to Adelaide due to a “medical incident”.

After that 2023 diversion, Australian International Pilots Association’s vice president and Qantas Captain Mark Hofmeyer said there were “a bunch of rules in terms of diversion”.

“So an aircraft – if I dare say, on fire – it will basically land anywhere it can, if it’s a medical event for example, the rules for Qantas is there are still certain restrictions on airports that you’ll go to,” Mr Hofmeyer said.

“So Adelaide is classified as an airport that is suitable to accept an A380, both in terms of the runway length and also when it gets on the ground. And A380 is 80 metres wide, so you can get on the ground and safely manoeuvre.”