A Qantas jumbo jet has been taken out of action after hairline cracks were discovered in its wings.

The A-380 has been grounded at Sydney's Mascot Airport since Sunday when engineers found 36 cracks during inspections.

They've found cracks in two of the airline's double-decker A-380s so far.

But Qantas says they're not as serious as those discovered by the manufacturer, Airbus, last month which prompted European regulators to order urgent inspections of almost a third of the worldwide fleet.
 

The cracks are a manufacturing fault and have nothing to do with the plane hitting serious turbulance on a flight from London last month.

Photo:Getty/Getty Images News/Ryan Pierse/Staff