DUBAI // An Emirates flight from Sydney to Dubai with more than 500 passengers onboard was diverted to Colombo on Friday after smoke was seen in the cockpit.

The A380 aircraft was 320 nautical miles (about 600 kilometres) east of Colombo when pilots made a distress call.

“The pilots said ‘May Day, May Day’, and we activated all our emergency services and brought the aircraft to a safe landing,” Bandaranaike airport’s chief air navigation services officer, Crishanthi Tissera, told AFP.

An Emirates spokesman said a technical fault was to blame, without providing further details. However, he said that passengers on flight EK413 landed safely and were transferred to other Emirates flights.

“Emirates apologises for any inconvenience. The safety of our passengers and crew is of paramount importance,” he said.

An Emirates A380 plane last month damaged a wheel following an unscheduled landing at a Polish airport when a passenger took ill.

Emirates flight EK222 from Dallas to Dubai was diverted to Chopin Airport in Warsaw on May 22 when a 55-year-old Nigerian man suffered a stroke. Passengers were sent onwards to Dubai on a replacement aircraft.

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