A Qantas Airbus A380-800 was damaged when an airbridge smashed onto one of its engines at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD), Australia around 9.30 am local time on July 12, 2025.
The aircraft was stationary at the gate and getting ready to operate flight QF63 to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), South Africa, when, for reasons that are still unknown, an airbridge made contact with one of engines on the left side of the aircraft. The engine cowling suffered some visible damage as a result of this incident.
The aircraft had to be withdrawn from service until repairs could take place. This resulted in a 21-hour delay in the departure of the Johannesburg-bound flight, which was rescheduled for 6:30am local time on July 13, 2025.
This is the latest in a string of incidents involving airbridges which have affected Qantas in recent months.
On June 18, 2025, an aerobridge at Brisbane Airport (BNE) smashed the front windscreens of a Qantas 737-800. On that occasion, the incident happened shortly after the aircraft had arrived from Queenstown (ZQN), New Zealand, while the aircraft was getting into position to disembark the passengers.
No one was injured in any of these two most recent incidents. However, in May 2025, a Qantas employee was severely injured when, during a routine inspection at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, she fell through a gap in an airbridge, from a height of six meters.