Singapore Airlines was forced to cancel its flight from Singapore to Sydney on Monday night when its four-month-old A380 super jumbo was grounded, as reported in The Sydney Morning Herald.

"It was a difficult delay. A problem presented with a fuel pump, and this is the sort of problem that doesn't show till engine start-up,'' Singapore Airline’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Stephen Forshaw told The Sydney Morning Herald.

A Boeing 747-400 was later brought in to replace the grounded A380 and left Changi Airport nine hours after. The airline did not provide accommodation for the remaining 70 passengers, who were forced to wait overnight for alternative flights the following day.

“Given the time of night, we explored transferring all customers to hotels till the defect was repaired, to allow them to get some rest...Unfortunately, with the Singapore Airshow on this week, there were not sufficient hotel rooms to be able to accommodate those affected,” Forshaw said.

"We're very sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers by the long delay, and especially the nature of it, with a lack of certain departure time,'' he added.

Prior to this incident, the Singapore Airlines A380 had enjoyed a 100 per cent technical reliability rating.

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