Flights returning to normal after airlines toil to upgrade grounded Airbus planes
Airbus planes started returning to normal service after being briefly grounded for upgrade Photograph: (AFP)
India’s aviation regulator said on Saturday that IndiGo had completed the reset on 184 out of 200 aircraft. Air India said it has successfully completed the reset on over 90% of its operating A320 family aircraft. AirAsia said it aimed to complete fixes in 48 hours.
Airlines across the globe rushed to fix the software glitch on Airbus A320 jets on Saturday after the European aerospace giant ordered a partial recall and halted hundreds of flights on one of the busiest weekends of the year in the US, Asia, and Europe. As a result, thousands of Airbus planes started returning to normal service after being briefly grounded over a warning of a glitch that solar radiation could interfere with onboard computers. Airbus said about 6,000 of its A320 planes required a quick software update while 900 older planes needed a computer replacement. Airlines toiled through the night after global regulators told them to get the upgrade done before resuming flights.
AirAsia, one of the world’s largest A320 customers, said it aimed to complete fixes in 48 hours.
India’s aviation regulator said earlier on Saturday that budget giant IndiGo had completed the reset on 184 out of 200 aircraft. Later, IndiGo shared that it has completed the upgrade fully
Air India said it has successfully completed the reset on over 90% of its operating A320 family aircraft that were impacted.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Saturday that the updates “went very smoothly” for more than 5,000 planes, and fewer than 100 still needed the update.
Also Read: Pakistan will send forces to Gaza, confirms Ishaq Dar, says disarming Hamas ‘not our job’
Several Air France flights in and out of Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport were delayed or cancelled on Saturday morning.
American Airlines said there were “operational delays” but the vast majority of updates would be carried out by Saturday.
Delta Airlines said it believed the impact on its operations would be limited.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority said that airlines operating in the country worked through the night to carry out the update and air traffic had not been seriously affected.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
Also Read: ‘There will be jihad if there is oppression,’ says Jamiat chief Madani, triggers political storm
In Australia, budget airline Jetstar cancelled 90 flights but most of its aircraft have now undergone the update, but some disruptions are expected though the weekend.
Air New Zealand grounded its A320 planes, but all fights resumed after the update was completed.
Airbus discovered the issue after a JetBlue Airways plane flying between the US and Mexico suddenly lost altitude in October and at least 15 people were injured.
It identified a problem with the aircraft’s computing software which calculates a plane’s elevation, and found that at high altitudes, data could be corrupted by intense radiation released periodically by the Sun.
Besides the A320, the A318, A319, and A321 models were also affected.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologised to airlines and passengers after the surprise recall of 6,000 planes or more than half of the global A320-family fleet, which recently overtook the Boeing 737 as the industry’s most-delivered model.
“I want to sincerely apologise to our airline customers and passengers who are impacted now,” Faury posted on LinkedIn.
