A door on a Qantas A380 has been almost totally ripped off after one of the airline's double-deck planes struck scaffolding as it was being rolled out of a maintenance hangar at Sydney Airport.

The incident in the hangar at Qantas' jet base late on Friday forced the cancellation of flight QF7 from Sydney to Dallas in the US on Saturday afternoon. A return flight – QF8 – that was due to leave Dallas on Sunday (AEST) has also been cancelled due to the damaged A380.

The door was almost totally ripped from the Qantas A380's fuselage.

The airline already has two A380s on the ground undergoing refurbishment in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi, in the Middle East. The A380 is the flagship of Qantas' fleet, of which it has 12.

The damaged A380 – registered VH-OQB – had been undergoing routine maintenance in Hangar 96 at the jet base and struck a support structure as it was being pulled out in readiness to re-enter service.