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A Qantas flight from Melbourne to Dubai has back-tracked to Sydney Airport after flying halfway across the country before encountering engineering problems. The A380 landed at Sydney Airport about 6.50am on Tuesday, more than eight hours after it left Melbourne. A Qantas spokesman said there had been a "slight vibration issue" with one of the engines on the QF9 flight. "The pilots decided to return the aircraft to Sydney where it is expected passengers will be transferred onto a replacement aircraft later this morning," the spokesman said. The plane left Melbourne Airport at around 11pm. After turning back over South Australia, flight tracking websites showed the plane entering holding patterns over Cowra and Goulburn. It is understood the engine in question was vibrating above its normal threshold. Qantas also has A380 maintenance facilities at Sydney Airport, which also helps explain the decision to return the plane to Sydney.<br/>

Emirates and Malaysia Airlines are expanding their codeshare agreement to cover 15 destinations in Malaysia. Emirates said Monday it is placing its EK flight number on 15 Malaysian Airlines flights to cities that include Langkawi, Penang, Johor Bahr and Kuching. The two airlines started codesharing on the Kuala Lumpur - Dubai route on February 15 with Malaysia Airlines putting its flight number on Emirates’ four daily flights between the two cities.<br/>