3 months ago
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About 3000 A320-family jets were in the air when Airbus issued its bulletin to more than 350 of the plane’s operators.
There are 2274 Airbus A320s in service in the Asia-Pacific region, more than any other single region globally, according to Cirium aviation analytics company.
Air New Zealand has also been affected by the A320 recall.Credit: Laurent Errera
Air New Zealand confirmed on X that it is also affected by the Airbus order.
“As a precaution, all our A320neo aircraft will be receiving a software update before operating their next passenger service,” it wrote. “This will lead to disruption across a number of our A320neo flights today and we’re expecting a number of cancellations to services across that fleet.”
The airline said it would contact customers whose flights were affected.
“We know this is frustrating and really appreciate everyone’s patience, kindness and understanding.”
Cebu Pacific, which flies from Sydney and Melbourne to the Philippines, also took to X to confirm it is affected.
“Our operations and engineering teams are working diligently to complete the updates as quickly and efficiently as possible,” it said. “We have also deployed additional airport staff to assist passengers.”
Cebu Pacific urges passengers travelling within the next 48 hours to check their flight’s status on the website “before heading to the airport”.
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Earlier, Airbus released a statement saying “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 said it subsequently identified “a significant number” of its aircraft which may be affected.
Reuters, citing industry sources, said the incident that triggered the unexpected repair action involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on October 30, during which several passengers were hurt after a sharp loss of altitude.
Flight 1230 made an emergency landing at Tampa, Florida, after a flight control problem and a sudden uncommanded drop in altitude, prompting an FAA investigation.
Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said it was aware of the issue affecting the A320s globally, and that it was confident major airlines were acting quickly to ensure aircraft safety and minimise traveller disruptions.
Britain’s Aviation Authority and India’s national carrier, Air India, said they were aware of Airbus’ directive and expected disruptions to flights in their countries.
Saturday morning’s delays in Australia come after fire forced the evacuation of Melbourne Airport’s Terminal 1 on Friday night.
More to come.
