Airline passengers have been warned of potential travel disruption after Airbus identified a “significant number” A320 planes impacted by a software issue.
In a statement, the plane maker said: “Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.
“Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted.”
It is understood the incident that triggered an unexpected repair involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on 30 October, which suffered a sharp loss of altitude which injured several passengers.
An Airbus spokesperson told Sky News the necessary software change would affect up to 6,000 planes.
They added that for most of the affected aircraft, the required software update would take 2-3 hours. However, some aircrafts would need new hardware to be able to adopt the required software and that those aircraft would be affected for longer.
Airbus told Sky News that it had proactively asked the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to issue an air worthiness directive for the affected aircraft.
Robber who kicked and punched pensioner for cottage pie jailed for his murder
Famous names affected by prostate cancer criticise NHS screening decision
Delivery driver who killed girl, 7, in head-on crash in Lincolnshire jailed for six years
The issue is affected the A319, A320 and the A321 models.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority said it is likely to mean some disruption and cancellation to flights.
Some airlines will be more affected than others, Colombian airline Avianca has announced that it will close ticket sales for 10 days due to the issue.
American Airlines said the Airbus software issue would impact 340 aircraft and it expects some operational delays due to a major software change requirement.
The airline added that it expects the vast majority of the updates to be completed by “today or tomorrow”, and that they are “intently focused” on limiting cancellations.
Wizz Air said some of its flights over the weekend may be affected, while Air India said the issue could lead to delays.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the latest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
