A number of passengers became ill on an Emirates flight to New York from Dubai and were receiving medical treatment with the plane on the tarmac at JFK airport.

Sick passengers were being treated on the Airbus A380 double-decker aircraft, Eric Phillips, press secretary to New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, said on Twitter. “521 aboard, nobody off plane yet, sick passengers being triaged on plane,” he said. “Flight started in Dubai and stopped in Mecca, which is experiencing a flu outbreak. Early indications point to that as a POSSIBILITY. More to come.”

Emirates flight EK203 was quarantined after arriving at about 9:10 a.m. local time, NBC New York reported. Port Authority Police and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were waiting in a staging area to check passengers, the TV station said.

About 10 passengers received medical treatment, the carrier said. Emirates is the world’s largest airline by international traffic, and the biggest operator of the superjumbo jet. The aircraft typically seats over 500 passengers in a three-class layout.

“On arrival at JFK, as a precaution, they were immediately checked by local health authorities and those needing medical attention will be attended to,” Emirates said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “All other passengers will be disembarking shortly.”

--With assistance from Stacie Sherman