Emirates EK373 A380 Gets Stuck as Suvarnabhumi Taxiway Fails, Five Days After a China Airlines Jet Did the Same

Emirates flight EK373, an Airbus A380 bound for Dubai, could not move on taxiway E21 at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport at 9:11 pm on Monday, November 2, 2026, after the pavement under it gave way. The airport said a tug freed the jet at 10:18 pm, and it took off four minutes later.

It was the second time in under a week that an airliner sank into the pavement at the threshold of runway 02R. Thailand’s transport minister has since ordered faster repairs, and E21 stays closed until 8 am on Friday, November 6.

What happened to EK373

According to a statement from Suvarnabhumi Airport’s public relations office, relayed by Daily News, the Emirates A380 was taxiing for departure when part of the E21 surface cracked under its weight. Airport staff called in Bangkok Flight Services (BFS), which sent a tug to pull the aircraft clear.

The jet sat immobilized for 67 minutes, as Thai Examiner put it. The number of passengers and crew on board has not been published, and the aircraft’s registration has not been confirmed.

The airport’s statement mentions no injuries. Thai Examiner noted that Emirates had released no response and that no damage assessment of the aircraft had been made public.

The minister’s order and the repair plan

On November 3, Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn ordered the repairs sped up, Thairath reported. He said the fix would not stop at the damaged spot, and that a long-term plan to inspect and maintain runway and taxiway surfaces systematically is being prepared.

Airports of Thailand (AOT) closed the center runway, 02R/20L, for 13 hours, from 7 pm on November 3 to 8 am on November 4. Crews dug out an area of about 49 by 328 feet (15 by 100 m) on the runway and 33 by 148 feet (10 by 45 m) on E21, both to a depth of 13 inches (33 cm).

The runway reopened on schedule on the morning of November 4. E21 stays shut until 8 am on November 6 so the new surface can cure and regain its strength, Thai PBS World reported.

Neighboring taxiway E19 was also closed for strength testing before it took over as the detour. AOT said the two remaining runways can carry the schedule, and Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, the air navigation provider, said service would not be affected.

A newly built extension of taxiway D, which will add another route onto 02R/20L, is waiting for inspection by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) before it opens.

The same corner, five days earlier

At about 7:20 pm on October 28, China Airlines flight CI840, a Boeing 737-800 bound for Kaohsiung, used E21 to line up on runway 02R when its wheels sank into soft, damaged surfacing. According to The Nation, four jets behind it were blocked and five flights in total ran about two hours late.

The minister said the next day that the section beside E21 had been repaired. Thairath reported that the November 2 failure happened near that site, but officials have not said whether the patched pavement itself gave way again.

Social media posts reported by The Thaiger describe two earlier October wheel problems for China Airlines jets near their stands at Suvarnabhumi. Those accounts have not been confirmed by the airport or the airline.

Why the ground under Suvarnabhumi keeps giving way

The airport blamed heavy, continuous rain and flooding around Suvarnabhumi, which raised the water level beneath the ground and weakened parts of E21. That echoes the explanation AOT gave for CI840, when its president, Paweena Jariyathitipong, said the airport sits on soft clay with a high water table, InfoQuest reported.

InfoQuest also reported that the spot CI840 hit carried only a temporary repair awaiting a permanent fix. CAAT’s preliminary view at the time was that construction materials had deteriorated, and its director-general, Air Chief Marshal Manat Chawanaprayoon, asked AOT for the cause, prevention measures and better inspection technology.

The problem is as old as the Bangkok airport itself. Built on former swampland, it opened in September 2006, and by January 2007 its general manager was reporting about 100 cracks on taxiways leading to the runways, blamed on groundwater, AviationPros reported in January 2007.

Weight is what turns a soft patch into a stuck airliner. Thairath noted the A380’s maximum takeoff weight of up to roughly 575 tonnes (about 1.27 million pounds). AOT has said it watches taxiway turns and other high-torque spots most closely, and a runway threshold, where heavy jets turn to line up, is exactly that kind of spot.

The wet season has already tested the airport this autumn: in late September, flooding left Thai Airways cutting flights as thousands of bags piled up at Suvarnabhumi.