The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered an immediate halt to flights operated by the Airbus A320 family until airlines complete mandatory safety modifications. The sweeping move issued today covers the Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 fleet and requires operators to ground aircraft until prescribed checks and fixes are completed. 

 

 

Airbus has ordered immediate repairs of thousands of aircraft globally from its A320 fleet, with multiple airlines in India also facing flight disruptions. It is estimated that around six thousand aircraft around the world will be impacted. The order issued by Airbus, following an incident with an A320 aircraft, uncovered a potential solar radiation risk, which might corrupt data critical flight controls. The Airbus software update will take two to three days. 

 

 

In a notification, DGCA has instructed operators to update their compliance records accordingly. It said, no aircraft should continue in service without meeting the required safety standards. Indian airline operator, IndiGo and Air India together use more than 350 aircraft in this category. The aircraft in the country will need to be grounded briefly to install the software fix, a process that is expected to cause operational disruptions. Meanwhile, Air India has stated that its engineers are working round-the-clock to complete the software and hardware realignment on A320 family aircraft worldwide. It said, some flights may be slightly delayed or rescheduled.

 

 

The company has also requested passengers to check the latest flight status on its website or connect with their contact centre at 011-69329333, 011-69329999 before heading to the airport.