Etihad says Airbus A320 flights back to normal as airlines around the world make critical software update

Airbus on Friday said it was carrying out a critical software update to a large proportion of its A320 fleet, sending airlines around the world scrambling to make the changes to the popular aircraft while avoiding potentially frustrating flight disruptions.

What happened?

Airbus's step comes after an incident involving a JetBlue flight on October 30.

The plane took off from Mexico and was forced to make an emergency landing in Florida after a sudden drop in altitude. At least 15 people were reportedly injured.

On Friday, Airbus said in its analysis found that "intense solar radiation" may possibly corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 - and that the issue affected a "significant number" of jets.

Airbus said it immediately suspended the operation of these aircraft and was working with aviation authorities while fixing both software and hardware on the A320s.

How have airlines reacted?

Airlines around the world moved quickly following the recall, carrying out software fixes to minimise travel disruption.

Etihad Airways told The National that A320 flights have "returned to normal following the successful installation of the required Airbus software update across our A320 fleet".

"The update was completed quickly and with minimal disruption - despite this being one of the busiest travel periods at Zayed International Airport ahead of the long weekend," it said.

Air Arabia, meanwhile, said it is "implementing the required measures across the impacted aircraft in our fleet".

"We are working to ensure minimal impact on our customers. In the event of any schedule adjustments, affected passengers will be notified directly," an airline representative told The National.

Saudi Arabia's Saudia airline said in an X post that it is "monitoring and reviewing any updates and assessing their potential impact on flight schedules".

"Should these updates necessitate any adjustments, affected passengers will be contacted directly," the Riyadh-based carrier said.

EgyptAir "promptly established a specialised task force" to address the issue and complete the software updates "in record time", it said in a statement on Saturday.

In India, aviation authorities said more than 300 A320 aircraft operated by Air India and IndiGo were affected by the issue.

Early on Saturday, Air India said on X that its engineers had completed a software reset on more than 40 per cent of its A320 fleet, and that no flight cancellations had been made or planned - although it acknowledged that some flights may be delayed or rescheduled.

Japan's All Nippon Airways, which operates more than 30 A320 aircraft, cancelled 65 domestic flights scheduled for Saturday. The Tokyo-based airline did not rule out the possibility of further cancellations on Sunday.

In the US, American Airlines said more than 200 of its nearly 500 A320 planes are affected.