Emirates A380 Airbus with over 500 people makes emergency landing in Colombo

Colombo: An Emirates Airbus A380 plane carrying over 500 people from Sydney to Dubai made an emergency landing in the Sri Lankan capital today due to a "technical fault".

The Emirates plane was diverted to Colombo where it landed safely, an airport spokesman said.

"Emirates flight EK413 from Sydney to Dubai...was diverted to Colombo due to a technical fault," the airline said in a statement without giving details about the nature of the problem.

"The aircraft landed safely at the Bandaranaike International Airport and passengers were transferred to other Emirates flights," the Emirates statement said and apologised to passengers for any inconvenience.

Fire fighting crew and emergency units had been placed on stand by.

"We were told of a technical fault with the airport and they were coming in for an emergency landing," the airport spokesman said. "No one was hurt and an investigation is underway."

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the airports at which it operates have upgraded facilities to accommodate it.

Emirates carried out its first A380 landing in Colombo in 2012 but the airport has yet to be upgraded to handle the plane.