Easyjet, British Airways, Wizz Air and Air India flight disruptions after Airbus requests immediate modifications to 6,000 planes

Air passengers are facing disruption after a fault was uncovered affecting thousands of aircraft. Airbus has requested immediate modifications to around 6,000 planes after it was discovered that radiation from the sun could corrupt data affecting flight controls.

According to the European aerospace giant, the issue was uncovered after an incident on October 30 when a JetBlue Airways A320 suffered a sudden drop in altitude and had to make an emergency landing in Florida. At least 15 people are understood to have suffered injuries.

As well as the bestselling Airbus A320 aircraft, the issue is also said to affect the A318, A319 and the A321 which are all models from the same design fleet.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the main certifying authority for the A320 family of aircraft, issued the instruction on Friday night (November 28) as a “precautionary action”. Although not all A320 planes will require a software update, several UK airlines have these aircrafts in their fleet and could be impacted, the EASA said.

It has been reported that the problem affects about half of the Airbus global fleet. Around 5,100 planes will be able to undergo a simple software update, while the remaining older versions of the plane will need to have hardware replaced and will need to be taken out of service to receive the modification.

“The requirement will mean the airlines flying these aircraft will in some cases have to change software over the days ahead or remain on the ground from Sunday onwards until the software has been changed,” it said. “This action is likely to mean that unfortunately there may be some disruption and cancellations to flights.”

Airbus fault: Airlines affected

The updates are likely to cause "some disruption and cancellations to flights", according to the UK's aviation regulator and Airbus has also issued an apology, acknowledging the updates will lead to "operational disruption to passengers and customers".

• Wizz Air: Wizz Air has warned passengers flying with the airline they may face disruption over the weekend as a result of the update.
• Air India: Has affected aircraft in its fleet which could lead to delays for its passengers.
• British Airways: Passengers flying with BA should not face any significant disruption as only three of their aircraft require the update, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed.
• Easyjet: The airline has said it is "expecting this to result in some disruption". They will inform passengers who may be affected directly.
• Aer Lingus: The airline also said it expects that there will be "no significant operational disruption."
• Jet2.com: A spokesperson said it was “installing software updates on a very small number of aircraft” in its fleet, adding: “We can confirm there will be no impact to our flying programme as a result.”

Giancarlo Buono, director of Aviation Safety at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “We have been made aware of an issue that may affect some of the A320 family of aircraft and the precautionary action that EASA has taken.

“We appreciate the disruption this may cause to some people flying over the coming days. Passengers should check with their airline whether their flights are affected. Airlines have a duty of care to look after passengers when a flight is delayed.”