Dubai-based airline Emirates announced on Monday that it is suspending flights using its lone Airbus A380 superjumbo until later this week while repairs are carried out.

"Our next scheduled commercial A380 flight to New York is Friday 12 September," an Emirates spokesperson said.

"Our A380 was scheduled for training use in between commercial flights. There is also planned engineering work which is taking longer to complete than expected."

Emirates launched a non-stop service with the A380 between Dubai and New York on 1 August. The airline is the largest customer of the superjumbo with a total of 58 on order.

"In the interim, Emirates continues to serve Dubai-New York with twice-a-day flights, operating our Boeing 777-300ER on the route," the airline spokesperson said.

AFP