Air India and IndiGo on Saturday issued a travel advisory for passengers, warning of potential delays and disruptions in flight operations, as Airbus, the European plane maker, has ordered an immediate software change for thousands of its A320 family aircraft.
Why Are Flight Operations Affected?
Early estimates suggest that around 300 planes will be impacted in India. Meanwhile, the repairs will be carried out before the next flight of each plane. In an official statement, Airbus said the issue comes from intense solar radiation, which can corrupt data that controls the aircraft.
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Air India Issues Advisory
Air India tweets, "We are aware of a directive from Airbus related to its A320 family aircraft currently in service across airline operators. This will result in a software/hardware realignment on a part of our fleet, leading to longer turnaround time and delays to our scheduled operations."
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The airline also urged passengers to check their flight status and connect with contact centre at 011-69329333, 011-69329999 for any further assistance.
IndiGo Issues Advisory
In a post on X, IndiGo said, "Airbus has issued a technical advisory for the global A320 fleet. We are proactively completing the mandated updates on our aircraft with full diligence and care, in line with all safety protocols. While we work through these precautionary updates, some flights may see some slight schedule changes... Please check your latest flight status on our app/website before heading to the airport."
How Many Indian Aircraft Will Require Software Changes?
In a statement, Airbus stated that it has worked proactively with the aviation authorities to "request immediate precautionary action from operators via an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) to implement the available software and/or hardware protection, and ensure the fleet is safe to fly."
"This AOT will be reflected in an Emergency Airworthiness Directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)," the company added. According to reports, Indian operators have about 560 A320 family planes, and around 200 to 250 of them will undergo software changes.