Very few UK flights have been affected after several airlines had to update software in some of their Airbus A320 aircraft, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said.
Passengers had been told to expect âlimitedâ travel disruption over the weekend but on Saturday afternoon the CAA said the impact in Britain was minimal.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the main certifying authority for the A320 family of aircraft, on Friday night issued an instruction to update one of the aircraftâs onboard computers as a âprecautionary actionâ.
A small number of aircraft operated by UK airlines have not yet had the update, the CAA said.
Rob Bishton, CAA chief executive, said in a statement: âI want to thank the airlines for working at pace to take this precautionary maintenance action.
âThanks to their diligent and swift efforts, UK aviation has come together to minimise significant passenger disruption.â
There are spare aircraft, particularly at this time of year, and that will help avoid significant passenger disruption, the CAA added.
The Airbus update comes after at least 15 JetBlue passengers were injured last month after an A320 aircraft suddenly dropped in altitude, forcing an emergency landing in Florida.
Airbus said that an examination of the JetBlue incident revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 family of aircraft.
Researchers have said solar radiation can cause malfunctions but there was no unusual solar activity on the day of the incident.
Professors Keith Ryden and Clive Dyer, from the University of Surrey Space Centre, said in a statement: âItâs somewhat puzzling that Airbus refer to âintenseâ solar radiation: on October 30, the aircraft concerned would only have experienced normal radiation levels for that altitude â there was no solar event of concern and no increase above normal.â
Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury apologised to customers after the required fix led to âsignificant logistical challenges and delaysâ internationally.
âOur teams are working around the clock to support our operators and ensure these updates are deployed as swiftly as possible to get planes back in the sky and resume normal operations, with the safety assurance you expect from Airbus,â he wrote in a message posted on LinkedIn on Saturday.
Not all A320 planes required a software update but several UK airlines have the aircraft in their fleet, the EASA said.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on Friday night the impact on UK airlines should remain âlimitedâ.
She added: âI would really like to thank the experts, staff and airlines who are working at pace to address this and reassure passengers that work is ongoing.
âIt is heartening this issue has been identified and will be addressed so swiftly demonstrating the high aviation safety standards globally.â
Wizz Air said the software update was implemented on all its affected Airbus A320 family aircraft overnight and no further disruption is anticipated.
Diarmud O Conghaile, its chief operations officer, said: âI would also like to extend my sincere thanks to our dedicated Wizz colleagues who worked tirelessly through the night to carry out the updates swiftly and efficiently.
âTheir commitment ensured that our passengers could travel as planned, despite the challenges faced.â
EasyJet indicated in a statement there may be changes to their flying schedule and any affected passengers will be informed.
Irish airline Aer Lingus said it is not expecting major operational disruption.
Passengers flying with British Airways should not face any significant disruption as only three of their aircraft require the update, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed.
Stansted and Manchester airport said on Saturday morning that flights were running to schedule.
A London Gatwick spokesperson said: âYesterdayâs directive requiring some airlines to update software on their A320 aircraft may result in a small number of delays over the weekend. No cancellations are expected.â
A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said it was not expecting any disruption to its flight schedule and Luton Airport was also expecting to fly its normal schedule.
