PARIS/FRANKFURT: The sudden requirement to provide software updates for some 6,000 Airbus A320 aircraft has not so far had a severe impact on air traffic, several operators said on Saturday.
Some 6,000 Airbus aircraft in the A320 series must be inspected before further operation, the company said on Friday after findingthat intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury apologised to airlines and passengers after the surprise recall of 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.
This was established through an analysis of a "recent event"involving an A320 aircraft, the Toulouse-based manufacturer added in a statement without elaborating.
Airbus worked with aviation authorities to ask airlines to take precautionary protective measures involving software and/or hardware,the company said, adding in many cases, a software update could be carried out quickly from the cockpit.
Some airlines began installing the software update on Friday evening after being notified by the aircraft manufacturer.
Lufthansa began implementing the Airbus measures on Friday evening and a large part of the software updates were carried out during the night and on Saturday morning, a spokesman said. "No flights are expected to be cancelled by Lufthansa Group airlines due to the situation, but isolated delays over the weekend cannot be ruled out."
British airline Easyjet also said it had already carried out "the majority" of the updates and that flight operations were running as scheduled, in response to a dpa enquiry on Saturday.
Only three British Airways aircraft were affected, so there should be no restrictions, the PA news agency reported. British Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said on Friday that only a small number of aircraft were affected and that London airports expected no or only isolated effects on air traffic.
Air France cancelled 35 flights on Friday evening, but expected a quick return to normal operations after a few cancellations on Saturday.
Global airlines scrambled to fix the software glitch that threatened US travel over the busiest weekend of the year.
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.
Airlines worked through the night after global regulators told them to remedy the problem before resuming flights.
That appeared to help head off the worst-case scenario and capped the number of flight delays in Asia and Europe. The U.S. will face high demand after the Thanksgiving holiday period.
In the United States, however, it came during the day ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel weekend.
Steven Greenway, CEO of Saudi carrier Flyadeal, said that the recall had hit late in the evening, which had avoided more serious disruption. The airline said it had fixed all 13 affected jets and would resume normal operations by midnight.
Airlines must revert to a previous version of software in a computer that helps determine the nose angle of the affected jets and in some cases must also change the hardware itself, mainly on older planes in service. — dpa and Reuters
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