Airbus A320 recall disrupts Asian travel as carriers scramble to patch software

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By Tim Kelly and Abhijith Ganapavaram

Nov 29 (Reuters) – Asian airlines scrambled on Saturday to fix a software glitch on their Airbus A320 jets as a sweeping recall by the European planemaker grounded aircraft across the region after disrupting travel in the U.S. during the busiest weekend of the year.

The recall of 6,000 planes covers more than half of Airbus’ global A320 family fleet, the backbone of Asian short-haul aviation, particularly in China and India where economic growth has brought millions of new travellers into the skies.

Regulators around the world followed the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in directing their carriers to remedy the A320 software problem before resuming flights.

The Airbus recall, issued to 350 operators around the world, appears to be one of the biggest in its 55-year history and comes weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the most-delivered model.

FIX IS SIMPLE BUT NECESSARY

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration told carriers to replace or modify software that controls the elevators and ailerons on A319, A320 and A321 airplanes.

India’s aviation regulator said 338 Airbus aircraft in the country were affected by the glitch but said the software reset will be completed by Sunday. The country’s largest airline, IndiGo, has completed the software reset on 143 out of 200 aircraft, the regulator said.

Air India, which has 113 impacted aircraft, has completed the reset on 42 aircraft. Both airlines warned of delays on Saturday.

“There isn’t any major impact on schedule integrity across our network,” Air India posted on X. “However, some of our flights may be slightly delayed or rescheduled.”

Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration instructed airlines to conduct inspections and maintenance. It estimates that around two-thirds of the 67 A320 and A321 aircraft operated by the island’s carriers are affected.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Macao said it had asked Air Macau to address the issue, including rescheduling flights to minimise any disruption to passengers.

ANA Holdings, Japan’s biggest airline, cancelled 65 flights on Saturday and warned of more disruption on Sunday.

ANA and its affiliates, such as Peach Aviation, operate the most Airbus A320 jets in Japan. Its chief rival, Japan Airlines, has a mostly Boeing fleet and does not fly the A320. Nationwide, 95 flights were cancelled, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Globally, there are about 11,300 of the single-aisle jets in service, including 6,440 of the core A320. The fix mainly involves reverting to earlier software, and although relatively simple, it must be completed before the planes can fly again.

OCTOBER INCIDENT TRIGGERED RECALL, SOURCES SAY

Jetstar, the budget carrier of Australia’s flag carrier Qantas, said some of its flights would be affected by the recall. The Australian Broadcasting Corp reported significant delays at Melbourne airport.

South Korea’s Asiana Airlines said it does not expect any significant disruptions to its flight schedule, with only 17 of its aircraft affected by the recall. Its domestic rival, Korean Air, said it was working to get 10 of its jets back into service.

South Korea’s Transport Ministry said upgrades to 42 aircraft there were expected to be completed by Sunday morning.

Hong Kong budget carrier HK Express said it had upgraded more than half its affected aircraft and that flight operations were normal.

The world’s largest A320 operator, American Airlines, said 340 of its 480 A320 aircraft needed the fix, most of which it expected to complete by Saturday.

U.S. carriers American, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and United Airlines are among the world’s 10 biggest A320-family operators.

Other airlines that said they would do the repairs include Germany’s Lufthansa, and Britain-based easyJet.

Colombian carrier Avianca said the recall affected more than 70% of its fleet, prompting it to close ticket sales for travel dates through December 8.

Industry sources said a sharp loss of altitude on a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, on October 30, that injured several passengers had triggered the Airbus recall.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly and Maki Shiraki in Tokyo, Abhijith Ganapavaram in New Delhi, Sam McKeith in Sydney, Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Jack Kim in Seoul, Ziyi Tang in Beijing and John Geddie in Hong Kong; Editing by Tom Hogue and William Mallard)