QANTAS and airline maker Airbus have been quick to reassure passengers that tiny cracks found in the wing ribs of the A380 superjumbo will not affect the aircraft's operation or safety.

The flag carrier was alerted to the tiny centimetre-long cracks in the wing ribs during the repair of its A 380 aircraft the Nancy Bird Walton in Singapore after a severe incident in November 2010 when one of its Rolls Royce engines exploded.

But Qantas said today the cracks were totally unrelated to that incident and had also been found in four other A380s, test aircraft of Airbus and one other flown by Singapore Airlines.

An airline spokesman said the cracks in the wing ribs, metallic fixtures that help stabilise the aircraft but non-critical to it remaining in flight, had been repaired before the Nancy Bird Walton was brought back into service.

"No immediate action is required by A380 operators because the cracking presents no risk whatsoever to flight safety,'' he said.

"Formal guidance is being developed by Airbus that is likely to require A380 operators to inspect wing ribs for this type of cracking every four years (in line with scheduled maintenance checks).

"Qantas will comply fully with this guidance when it is published.''

An Airbus spokesman said the issue was not linked with any type of metal fatigue but was a material-related manufacturing issue and would be rectified at the factory stage for new aircraft.

The European Aviation Safety Authority had cleared existing aircraft for safe flying despite the cracks, but recommended repair if cracks were detected when the aircraft had major maintenance every four years.

Originally published as Wing cracks harmless, says Qantas