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File photo of Airbus A320-200 without painting. Alamy Stock Photo
A320
Airbus warns of potential flight disruptions as thousands of planes require upgrades
Aer Lingus, one of the airlines who use the model affected, said it expects “no significant operational disruption”.
LAST UPDATE | 28 Nov 2025
EUROPEAN PLANE-MAKER Airbus has warned of potential travel disruption as it upgrades some 6,000 operational A320 aircraft, after an incident on a JetBlue flight last month.
Produced since 1988, the A320 is the best-selling airplane globally. The model has been used by airlines such as Aer Lingus, British Airways and Wizz Air.
The company has instructed its clients to take “immediate precautionary action” after evaluating the incident.
“Intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls,” Airbus stated, adding that “a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service” may be affected.
Speaking to The Journal, Aer Lingus said it expects “no significant operational disruption” as a limited number of aircraft are impacted.
“Following an alert raised by Airbus, a directive has been issued to airlines advising them of a requirement to update instances of a particular version of software installed on some of the global Airbus A320 family of aircraft,” the airline said in a statement.
“In Aer Lingus’ case a limited number of aircraft are impacted, and the airline is taking immediate steps to complete the required software installation. As a result, Aer Lingus expects that there will be no significant operational disruption.”
Faulty software
The faulty software, the Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC), is made by aerospace and defence giant Thales.
“Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers,” it said, apologising for the inconvenience.
On October 30, a JetBlue-operated A320 aircraft encountered an in-flight control issue due to a computer malfunction.
The plane suddenly nosedived as it travelled between Cancun in Mexico and Newark in the United States, and pilots had to land in Tampa, Florida.
US media quoted local firefighters saying that some passengers were injured.
Produced since 1988, the A320 is the best-selling airplane globally, with Airbus selling 12,257 of the aircraft by the end of September compared to the sale of 12,254 Boeing 737s.
With additional reporting from AFP
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