An Emirates A380 was struck by a fuel truck at Manchester Airport on Friday, damaging one of its engine cowlings. The incident forced Emirates to cancel its scheduled return flight to Dubai, and the aircraft involved was grounded in Manchester for more than two days after the incident.
Images of the aircraft shared on social media show a hole in the lip section of an engine cowling. Emirates worked quickly to perform repairs on the damaged engine, getting the aircraft back in the air just over two days after the incident.
Fuel Truck Hits Emirates A380 Engine In Manchester
Credit: Shutterstock
As first reported by X account @aviationbrk, the collision happened on the apron at Manchester Airport (MAN) as an Emirates Airbus A380 (registration: A6-EVP) was preparing to depart for Dubai International Airport (DXB). The flight was scheduled to depart Manchester at 1:15 PM local time ahead of its arrival into Dubai at 12.25 AM+1. The double-decker had just completed flight EK17 — a seven-hour journey from DXB — and was preparing to operate the return flight when the incident took place.
However, a fuel truck is said to have “struck” the aircraft while it was parked at the gate, leaving a hole in the engine cowling. Details on what precisely happened are limited at this stage, although Planespotters.net lists engine No.1 as the damaged engine. The airline subsequently canceled the return flight to Dubai and reaccommodated customers on alternative flights. Simple Flying has reached out to Emirates for comment on this incident and will update this story accordingly.
The Cost Of Repairs
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Damage to any component on an aircraft usually comes with a high cost, and the fact that an Airbus A380 — a plane that is now out of production — is the one involved could drive up the cost. Spare parts for the A380 have been in short supply, so much so that a sizable number of A380s have been scrapped.
As Simple Flying has previously explored, over 12% of the global A380 fleet has now been scrapped, providing vital parts for the spares ecosystem. However, the A380 has become increasingly difficult for some airlines to maintain, with several operators running into reliability problems with their A380 fleets. Although the aircraft wasn’t at fault in Friday’s incident in Manchester, getting it repaired will likely prove costly for Emirates.
Date
November 28, 2025
Airline
Emirates
Code
EK18
Aircraft
Airbus A380 (A6-EVP)
Departure
Manchester Airport (MAN)
Destination
Dubai International Airport (DXB)
Fate
Canceled
Then we must factor in the cost of canceling a flight and whether passengers are in line for compensation. Given that responsibility for the incident appears to lie with the ground vehicle operator, Emirates will probably file it under extraordinary circumstances, which would exempt it from making a payout to customers. But the cost of canceling the flight will still be very high — for example, Eurocontrol estimates that a same-day widebody aircraft flight cancellation will typically cost an airline up to $150,000.
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About The Airbus A380 Involved
Credit: Shutterstock
The aircraft grounded in Manchester is one of the youngest A380s in Emirates’ fleet, delivered to the carrier in May 2021. While the majority of Emirates’ A380s are powered by Engine Alliance’s GP7200 engine, A6-EVP is one of a handful of its double-deckers equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines.
The A380 can seat up to 484 passengers across four cabin classes, with 14 first class, 76 business, 56 premium economy and 338 economy seats. According to data from ch-aviation, A6-EVP has accumulated over 20,000 flight hours and 2,200 flight cycles over its five years flying with Emirates.
Flightradar24 tracking data shows that A6-EVP eventually departed Manchester more than two days after the collision. The aircraft performed flight EK20 to Dubai on November 30, leaving MAN at 9:24 PM local time before landing safely in Dubai at 8:05 AM+1.
